The Most Dwanderful Real Estate Podcast Ever!

Jesse Ray's Visionary Growth House: Cultivating Entrepreneurial Synergy and Financial Freedom

• Dwan Bent-Twyford/Jesse Ray • Season 5 • Episode 375

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Embark on a transformative journey with Jesse Ray and myself, Dwan Bent-Twyford, as we explore the innovative realm of Growth House—a co-living ecosystem tailored for entrepreneurs aiming to scale their financial heights without the corporate noose. Jesse's unique vision reshapes the fabric of community living, ensuring that success isn't just a solo race but a collective sprint. Tune in to discover how this real estate marvel is rewriting the playbook for communal growth and success, and how you might just find the key to unlocking your own financial liberation.

Finding harmony in the hustle is an art form, and in this heart-to-heart, we navigate the tributaries that blend health, travel, and relationships with entrepreneurial ambition. I open up about my personal quest for equilibrium, offering a treasure trove of wisdom on staying wholesome amidst the whirlwind of global escapades. Hear how Jesse and I tackle everything from the symphony of hip-hop's evolution to the nitty-gritty of dietary challenges, threading the narrative that true wealth is a multifaceted gem, extending far beyond the reaches of bank statements.

As we journey through this episode, the spotlight shines on the profound impact of relationships in nurturing both personal and professional growth. I share the exhilarating pursuit of guiding a hundred souls to financial independence within the next year, through a medley of mentorship, masterclasses, and our vibrant Growth House community. Share a laugh with us over high-end dining escapades and the playful game of credit card roulette, all while savoring the essence of a life truly lived—one where the aim is not just to survive the game but to play it with gusto. So come, be part of an experience that celebrates the spirit of generational wealth creation, mentorship, and a zest for life that knows no bounds.

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Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Hey everybody, welcome to The Most Dwanderful Real Estate Podcast Ever. I'm your host, Dwan Bent-Twyford. I'm America's most sought after real estate investor and I am so excited that you are here with me today. As you can see, I have a very handsome man over here. This is our wicked smart man and we're going to see what Jesse has to share with us today. But if you're new to Dwan-der-ful, I took my first name, Dwan and wonderful, and I made a new word. So at Dwan-der-ful our motto is people before profits. So if that's something that resonates with you, I'm your girl. If you'll go to Dwan-der-ful. com and opt in, I'll send you a free book how to flip your way to a fortune and some all kinds of fun free things and training and videos and just all the stuff. But first I would like to now welcome my guest, Jesse Ray. How are you?

Jesse Ray:

I'm amazing, you're already making me blush. I appreciate the intro.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

No, I didn't intro you yet.

Jesse Ray:

You said I'm handsome, so I appreciate that. Wow, I mean, look at that face and that smile.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It's like all the girls are going to be crushing on you. I love Jessie Ray. My family is from Tennessee, my dad's first name is Jessie and that seems like a southern, like Jessie Ray.

Jesse Ray:

Yeah, it does. It has that little vibe to it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It does, it does. I was like, oh, I immediately loved it. Okay, so how are you today?

Jesse Ray:

I'm doing amazing. I'm so glad I'm able to talk to you and be on the podcast.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, me too, me too. So we like to start off. We're going to have a toast. Everyone knows I drink. I'm drinking my live enzymes. What do you have? Um, yeah, shout out to the water, all right, cheers, everybody watching cheers. Get your drink and everybody. Take a deep breath and, like, stretch out whatever is bugging you so you can tune in and you can have fun with jesse and with me today. Now, if you are, you're an audio listener. You're going to love it. But if you want to see all this goodness in person, you need to go to my YouTube channel it's just a wonderful real estate and watch us. These videos are up on YouTube and I mean honestly, Jesse, who doesn't want to watch us and get involved and be in the moment with us?

Jesse Ray:

It's so much more fun we to watch us and get involved and be in the moment with us. It's so much more fun we actually get to watch it live, you get a yeah, it's more energy.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I feel like, too, I do, too, I love to, I watch, I I all podcasts, everything I do, I watch everything. And there are people like, oh, I listen when I'm running. It's like it's not the same.

Jesse Ray:

You don't get to see all this awesomeness so true, and able to take notes when you're actually just focusing watching. So I totally agree.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. So, Jesse, we just throw our guests straight to the wolves over here. So here's what I want you to do. I just want you to obviously say I'm Jesse, right? I want you to tell us who you are. I just want you to share your social medias and you just tell me, in like two sentences, what you do. And then I have a couple of fun questions and we're going to find out how you became Jesse Ray, who's on the most wonderful real estate podcast ever today let's do it so.

Jesse Ray:

Socials, uh, instagram at the jesse ray. And what I do? I help people escape the corporate rat race and achieve financial freedom and also, with furnished co-living homes, created growth house. We could dive into that if we want.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Wow, that was the best shortest. I love that, that quick, short answer. So the jessie race. I will be following you today and I just followed you, so perfect. Yeah, I always, I follow everybody and I know a lot of people like, oh, here's the questions and here's that, and I appreciate that people do that for me, but I don't read any of it because I just want to get to know you and ask you questions Like, if you and I were sitting down having a drink, what would we be talking about and we wouldn't have these intros and so?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

but after I interested someone, then I'm a stalker, I I'll be on all your instagram, all your stuff, liking all your stuff, sharing all your stuff. So love it, love it you're gonna be sucked into the vortex over here, all right, so, uh, so tell me that little part that you said at the end about um, growth house.

Jesse Ray:

Yeah, our community tell me what that means yeah.

Jesse Ray:

So when I finally ended up escaping the corporate you know rat race, I got into real estate and I kind of had a niche of creating these co-living homes, which co-living essentially is you buy a house, you have have extra bedrooms started by house hacking, popular term in real estate lived in one of the rooms and rented out the other rooms, and so the goal is to live for free. But at the same time, I was very intentional who I rented to? Because I was living in the house. I get to choose. Who do I wanna surround myself with?

Jesse Ray:

And for me I was aspiring entrepreneur, aspiring real estate investor. So those are the people I was trying to attract. So within six months of getting my first house, having amazing fun, people live with me. After I lived for five years by myself, saying I hate roommates, I'm now in a house with four other roommates and loving it, and everyone else also was loving it as well. And that's when the concept of growth house. Okay, how do I make this into a business where we have more co-living homes and all surrounded with growth minded people? So that's essentially what we ended up starting and that's how I got into real estate.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So I love growth house. So I know people that buy maybe a four bedroom or five bedroom house, like near college campuses, and they rent and all that, and I know people that do and maybe this is the word, but I've heard the term pad split where you like have a and you're split. So you know, when you said growth house, I, so I'm based in colorado. So since you said that, I thought does he grow weed A?

Jesse Ray:

lot of people said that. So wait, what's this? Grow house? No, no, not grow house. There's no operation.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Living in Colorado. If anyone says anything about grow house, we're all like, oh okay, they grow weed, cool, and you know nothing against that. I mean people are making millions of dollars off of it, but no, I know your real estate base.

Jesse Ray:

So I was like growth house okay, I'm from portland, so yeah you, probably people would assume the same thing yeah, well, yeah, so you're in portland now no, actually that's when I moved to arizona, so I lived in portland most of my life I'm sorry, now in arizona I gotta tell you, portland, uh, used to be just such a beautiful city.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I used to love to go there. My daughter lived there for a of years and it is like such a hell hole right now with just the tents and the people and it had one of those beautiful downtown. I loved it. And now I was there not too a couple of years ago and I was just like what happened to this beautiful city? I mean.

Jesse Ray:

I left in 2021 when I bought my first house here in Arizona, have not been back since, so it is sad.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I love it, it'll break your heart.

Jesse Ray:

So and also the cool thing about moving to like a city like Arizona or Scottsdale is people want to come see you because it's a place where people want to vacation to. So I don't feel bad because all my friends are reaching out to me. Even my immediate family moved out to arizona so I'm like, oh, I'm good now yeah, yeah, well, you're where it's warm.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So I'm all for the warm weather, although I'm in clinton, iowa, right now and in the winter here, so I've never actually spent a whole winter here. But we were. We bought a bunch of I guess I'll tell you in your show but we bought a bunch of buildings and the temperature gets like actual temperature, gets like 30 below like not with wind chill, like real temperature. It's like, oh my god, who lives there? Like why did? Why do you all live there? It's so, but now in the summer it's great. They have music outside every day. People are out, there's like stuff going, it's like so fun. But man, when that that fall weather comes, it's like stuff to go and it's like so fun, but man when that fall weather comes, it's like no, I'm tapping All right Now, growth house.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So I love the idea of what you're saying and so if someone is like new to this concept, so let's just say so. Are you one of the places that takes a house and maybe takes any extra living area and turns them into bedrooms? Do you have one where it's like shared kitchens? Like what is your growth house? Because a lot of people are really super new to this concept and I'm a huge fan of it 100%.

Jesse Ray:

And when I talk about growth house we kind of niche down into business professionals, entrepreneurs, but we kind of take a step back and just look at what it looks like on a normal term of real estate. It's co-living. A new company out there that's doing amazing things, like you said, is PadSplit. So they're doing something similar and essentially is taking a house. It has maybe four bedrooms and you add at least two or three bedrooms to really maximize. It's really looking at a house, a single family home. What's the highest and best use? So you have individual rooms, you can furnish them, you don't have to, and you rent by bedroom, with all the common areas are shared and typically to create more bedrooms in a house you do have to get rid of some of the common areas. So typically what's left is a kitchen, maybe a dining room, and for us we have a little miniature living room, but besides, that it's mostly rooms.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So I'm living in a growth house and I'm paying. What am I paying for rent?

Jesse Ray:

Yeah, we're in Phoenix, so it's pretty much, I would say, a few hundred dollars less than if you actually probably more, about six to seven hundred dollars less than if you want to get a studio apartment somewhere. So you're paying about nine hundred to a thousand dollars, furnished room. Almost think of it as an airbnb experience where you don't have to go in there and furnish everything. It's like oh, this is an amazing place. Uh, for us, we typically like to do six months minimum and that's kind of our concept and model.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Now. So I'm going to probably ask you all the questions that you hear all the time. But now I am a woman and if I'm like, hey, I found this growth house, I'm going to be in Arizona. Are you in Phoenix?

Jesse Ray:

Yeah, phoenix, we have houses in Phoenix and Tempe, which is a local near the university, out here at ASU.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And I'm like okay, I want to rent one of these, I'll have some roommates, I'm not living alone. There's safety in numbers, but do you have men and women? Are they in the same house?

Jesse Ray:

We do have some co-ed. Yeah, go ahead.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So if they're co-ed, then how am I safe?

Jesse Ray:

Yeah, so we do have co-ed houses and then we also have right now, all male houses. I've been trying to do an all woman's house but for whatever reason it just hasn't lined up. So we're still working on that. But as far as like the safety, what we do like to do is have a private bathroom or shared bathrooms with you know one gender or the other.

Jesse Ray:

No-transcript negativity is not something we want in our house. So we got to be kind of an uplifting, positive person. We tell you hey, you're going to live with six other people. We almost make it seem like it's like chaos, but in reality if you went by any of our houses you're like this is the cleanest house ever and oh yeah, everyone's like you know either out working or working in their you know rooms or you know just doing stuff. So it's not like it's a crowded home.

Jesse Ray:

But we kind of make sure to let people know are you okay with sharing a space with other people? Are you a clean person? This is kind of our guidelines. So after that first call, then it's the credit background check and then after that you actually FaceTime tour with one of the current roommates. So you now have a co-sign from myself or my assistant, one of the roommates, and if that roommate's like, yeah, I think this person is a great fit, then at the very end you do a FaceTime call with the whole family in that current house. So you actually get it. I don't make the decision. The house is actually the one who cosigns for the next person to move in.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

See, I love that. I don't know anybody else that does what you do, that does that extra factor like that I would feel like I would want to meet and I don't care if it's guys or girls either, personally but I would want to meet the people because you do get a sense of people's energy and you get a sense of someone's a good person or not. And you know I wouldn't want to live with like a bunch of rowdy partiers, nothing I haven't done or do any of those things I would sort of want like nice professional. You know we all get along and we can all sit around and have a kumbaya once in a while, maybe cook in the backyard, and you know you don't have to get attached to all the people either.

Jesse Ray:

Exactly Now. You're so on point and that's why we have, you know, some house rules and at the end of the day, it's really to create harmony in the house. It's not to have rules, you know. It's just like, hey, personal belongings are not left in common areas. That's why you're like how do five, six people live together? And it's spotless because we clean up. And, you know, another rule is like hey, here's our quiet hours. We're all working professionals or entrepreneurs, so this is, you know, the time that we're probably going to be going to sleep and most of us like to wake up early at six or seven to go work out. So there's just kind of like a vibe to the house that attracts the right people. So there is no parties, there is no, you know, guesting overnight all the time. It's just like a very kind of structured house for people who are looking to really expedite their career and success and growth.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And if I was traveling somewhere because I've stayed in a lot of those hotels that are like the residence ends, where they have a kitchen and they have this and that which those are fine too. But if I was in a decent place for like six months or you know, like working entrepreneur, and I didn't know anybody, I feel like I would like that because I could meet some people and, like have someone to talk to and maybe like hey, you know, can we grab a drink and you know, not like buddy, buddy, but but you know, like you know just in a hotel, and every night you're sitting in the room by yourself all the time.

Jesse Ray:

Exactly. Yeah, it's really a plug and play for someone who's an aspiring or a current entrepreneur. Where you come in, you have the community already built within the house and what we do especially, we kind of have cohorts. So some of the times where the houses are just business professionals and entrepreneurs. And then we have times where we have a dedicated three-month span where, hey, these are our startup founders and entrepreneurs living in this house and that's when we go extra.

Jesse Ray:

We have weekly accountability meetings, we have masterclasses that we host at the house every single month. We bring in top speakers, cold plunges, we have beverage companies sponsoring us and the next time we do this, in 2025, we actually have a production coming out. We're having a YouTube show around these entrepreneurs and following their journey, documenting everything that they're doing, and also we have a board of angel investors. So there's a lot more levels to it. If they want to get into co-living, you know, just do it more of the simple way, like I said, if you just want to have business professionals. But yeah, we do like intense three months sprints where we have a program and everything's set up.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So when you do, I like that. So when you're doing the three months sprint, is that your program?

Jesse Ray:

Yeah, it's a program that we're we created along with a lot of mentors and coaches out here in Arizona, so this also depends on who's moving in. Like this next one, we're probably gonna do real estate focused, so we're gonna be like all right, who's our key mentors, who are gonna come do the masterclasses, teach, et cetera. It's almost like having a mastermind for three months for these people, which is, you know, can be invaluable with all the connections and resources they have through the house.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Oh my God. No, that sounds amazing Because you know people that are new, like when I was doing investing, there was nobody to teach, there were no, like I started before the internet, so there was no YouTube watching videos, seminars, there was no HGTV, there was like nothing. You just I figured it out. I took classes at Home Depot to learn how to fix things, like I really see it in my pan and I'm all about trying to help people you know get from being new to like someplace else as fast as possible without all of the things. Maybe if someone came in like in the three months like they were in there, that would be amazing well with the one you might have to come fly out.

Jesse Ray:

I come hang out with us, I know.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I'm thinking like I want to come do that for a minute. That sounds super fun. That sounds super fun and everyone's kind of working on the thing. So then you also teach people and show people how to do and have these co-living properties.

Jesse Ray:

I mean, yeah, that's the benefit of being in our community, even if you're just doing it during you know our kind of I guess you call it regular residency, when you're just a business professional. Our goal is for you guys to stay in our community for as long as you want, and then the next step for you is go buy your own house and we want to help you do that Exactly, and a lot of the people are in that process now, where we've been doing this for about two and a half three years and so, like I said, some of the houses we keep as those business professional houses, and then one of the houses we say, hey, three months here, we're going to do this entrepreneur, startup, founder sprint. So that's the whole goal is we want to be those people to push people to go into homeownership, because, I mean, I'm a real estate fan.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It changed my life and I wanted to help change. I want a cold plunge with the other entrepreneurs. I was like, when you said that, I was like that would be like my dream have a couple months, a bunch of entrepreneurs and we're cold plunging and we're learning and you're like all in it. That would be so that to me, that's like that's an amazing way to learn too. 100.

Jesse Ray:

A hundred percent. And I'm actually super excited because someone just texted me and I've been working on a cold plunge, sponsored, and we just got one and they're going to come out to our mastermind at the end of this month and I'm just super excited because, yeah, cold plunges, working out health and wellness, big part of my life. I think a lot of people think it's all about business, all about business, all about finances, but for me it's the holistic, like what other areas of your life?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Let's lift it all up together. Yeah, I do Part of when I'm working with people. It's like, listen, there's like five equities of your life. You've got your business, but you got your spiritual, your mental, your physical, your friends and family. And a lot of especially newer investors will tend to like focus all on the money and then, you know, maybe their health or their mental well-being takes a backseat and they focus on whatever, and it's really easy to get out of balance and get out of whack and even, like, lose touch with people because you're just like you know, you're in the grind. And so I am always telling people like listen, listen, you've got to make time for all the things, because if you don't, you're going to get super burned out. First of all, you're going to get super burned out, but you have to take time for your body, you have to take time for your mindset. Like you have to do those things because if you don't, you know what's that old saying that when you're young you spend all your health getting your wealth.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And then, when you get older, you spend all your wealth trying to get healthy again. Like both at the same time. So when you do get older, you're wealthy and healthy.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Right, yeah, that's just having those non negotiables in your life, and for me, that is working out five times a day, eating healthy, and so, yeah, I think it's so, so true you know, my husband and I, um, a couple years ago we're we're pretty healthy in general, but we travel a lot, I do a lot of workshops, I do a lot of seminars and like we really still like to do that. We enjoy going, we teach, we're in hotel, but I don't know, maybe five or six or seven years ago we're like, you know, when we're on the road, like and before covid, you could go to like a marriott and they'd bring you nice room service and it's on the big table and you have all the bread and the butter, all the stuff. And then we get back home and we'd be like tired mentally and physically, like you know what we really have to start taking better care of ourselves, like we do at home, out on the road. So now we have a suitcase that we travel with and it has my Vitamix juicer, because we like to juice. It has the grounding mat, it has the heated blanket, it has all the stuff.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And I was like, yeah, and we take our own pillows. And I was like, okay, now we're like those people, you know, like the people that you think, like the crazy health nuts. I'm like, oh, yeah, and we take our own pillows and I was like, okay, now we're like those people you know, like the people that you think are like the crazy health nuts. I'm like, oh well, we're those people, because we have one bag that just has things to help us stay grounded and healthy while traveling, because you know it's easy, especially when you're younger, like even, like, you know, 20 years ago we'd like, ah, you know, we're here wherever we just go, eat or drink, like. But you know, after a while you're like you need to take care of yourself all the way around. So, yeah, so now we come, we're like we have our own pillow and then we use a different something that's not white, so the maids won't like toss it into laundry. And then we like, hey, can you wash our sheets without bleach?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

and oh, you're one of those high maintenance people that we've got a vitamin mix that's this big and I've got the grounding, the heated blanket, and I have my aromatherapy, all my stuff, but we both use it when we're home. So when you're traveling, I feel like each time we stay somewhere, that it's our temporary home, so we need to treat ourselves the same way.

Jesse Ray:

Yeah it's keeping that same routine and that's something that I'm actually about to go to europe for three months. So I'm gonna be like trying to figure out how do I eat healthy, because I'm meal prep everything like I'm the most basic, like chicken or rice, turkey and rice, and like I can't do that on the road. I don't know why you think you'd be surprised, though.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I've been there backpacking when, uh, each of my kids graduate high school. I take them for a month. I'm like put whatever you can on your backpack and we're gonna go, and we're just gonna stay and travel and take the train and we're gonna go where the wind leads us, and all the times I did that we actually ended up eating pretty good, because we would eat like the real, actual food of that country and, you know, find like the little places more off the road where, like, there's some grandma on the back that's making things and we actually ate really surprisingly healthy.

Jesse Ray:

So that's what I keep hearing. Everyone that goes to europe's like jess, you're gonna love it because everything's like no preservatives, like it's way healthier than the states so much better.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It is even like. I remember when we were in italy people like have like you know a thing of bread and some butter and some wine, like at lunch they're just hanging out and I was like, oh my god, if you know that bread, I'm gonna get so fat. But then when you eat the stuff or the pasta, it's different. It tastes different, it settles in your body different. Everything's not full of preservatives and gluten and any place that's like just a smidge off of the main path, you all the food's really good. I was always surprised. I was like, okay, I'm digging it. Because I was thinking like, oh god, I'm gonna gain. Because I was thinking like, oh God, I'm going to gain 20 pounds Because I'm going to eat everything in the world. And I ended up not gaining anyway and loving all the food and meeting and going into the places where the locals go.

Jesse Ray:

That's my big thing. It's like, yeah, it's cool to have a vacation and really be in the tourist area, but for me the whole point about travel is experience, the culture, get to know the people, get to really know what the vibe of that city is like. So I'm with you on that. I like to go to local spots.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

We do too. That's how we travel, even now. Like you know, we were just in Ohio recently and we're like, okay, what's the best little restaurant that like only the local people go to down Cincinnati, like only the local people go to down cincinnati, went to this little place and we ended up going back there three times in the same week because the food was amazing. It's like, yeah, good. So I'm like, I mean, I'm all for being touristy too, but if, for months, I want to feel how I like to feel how it would be to live there 100 that's my idea of like enjoying in places how it feels to be there, not just to be the tourist.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

But if you live there for six months, how would it feel? Because that's how I think you get to know the people and the cultures and, I don't know, you get to learn like a little bit of the language everywhere you go, if you kind of hang out in places like that.

Jesse Ray:

So I don't know, I'm a fan yeah, yeah, this will be my first time like doing a bouncing around quite a bit, because usually I like to do that. I like to be like one month minimum somewhere. So I go one month puerto rico, one month, you know, medellin, colombia. But this europe trip is kind of like all right, portugal to spain, to france, to here to there. This is my first time in europe, so I think this is a good way to kind of get the feel and then go back for that month or two where they're like oh, I've been there for five days. I kind of like that vibe, let me go back for a month. So that's kind of my game plan that I want to do this summer yeah, I love that.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So we got a year round pass and people are like oh, why do you take the train? Everyone flies now it's because the train takes you through the country and on the trains are people that live there and on some of the trains dining cart, everyone's eating and drinking and they're all tourists and they're hanging out. You know, and we took a couple of night trains. Oh my God, the night trains are the most fun I've ever had.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And from the dining cart eating and they're drinking and they're from all over the world and everyone's talking and it was the most fun I ever had was taking night trains.

Jesse Ray:

I appreciate that advice. I'm going to have to do that, if you feel like I'm here to hear.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It's like eight hours, do it at night. Oh my God, the people are so much fun. I never had so much fun in my whole life. We ended up being over there one time in the World Cup and a few of the people that are part of the team were taking some kind of a break and they were on the train and we were all in like the the cart, like the dining cart. Oh my god, I never had so much fun in my entire life. I was like people over here, rock man, I love it that's awesome.

Jesse Ray:

I'm excited to do that. I was excited to do that I was like fly.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It's like I don't want to fly from here to there, I want to go see the country. I can fly anywhere. I fly all the time. I want to go see and you can get everywhere by train, like everywhere. We even got off a couple of places, One by accident. We got off on this stop and we were like two stops too early and it let you out in a field and I was like and then everyone starts coming up out of nowhere, getting on the train, and we're like, OK, well, we'll just go that direction. We ended up in this tiny little town. No one even spoke english. We have the same for like five days. It was the most fun I ever had.

Jesse Ray:

I love that oh, fun.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So so see, folks, that's part of investing is to be able to do the things and grow your well, take care of yourself, have a good time, because you know what it's a lot of work being an entrepreneur, you know, and you know everyone's like, oh, I want to work being an entrepreneur, you know and you know everyone's like, oh, I want to do, I want to be my own boss. But then I think they get so hard in on the working part of it. People don't take time to actually enjoy what all that money does for you.

Jesse Ray:

So true, Cause that's the whole point of why I did this, why I started this you know, growth house, co-living houses and guidance real estate in the first place was to be able to leave that corporate job that I was in golden handcuffs, making six figures plus, but at the end of the day I didn't have that freedom. So for the first year so I think I was guilty of that where maybe first two years I didn't really get to go experience and travel that much. And then I'm like, wait, I created this lifestyle and my business around a lifestyle, but I'm not living that lifestyle. So now I'm like, all right, let me go out there, explore, travel, because that's why I did it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, how old are you?

Jesse Ray:

I'm 30.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

30. Well, you are just a youngin. Well, that's amazing. I didn't start till I was 30 and I didn't have that exact mindset yet. It probably took me till I was 40 to be like I need to do more things instead of just always working all the time. But I was a single mom, but you know I had a lot of extra stuff going on. But now I tell people like listen, take the vacations, take the time, take time off, go. But when you're doing other things, see what's happening in those real estate economies like it's a worldwide industry that we're in.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

You can do this everywhere in the whole world.

Jesse Ray:

So true.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So true, yeah, I love it. Now, what made you get interested in, like I'm going to do the growth house? Like, did you stay on one, Did you visit one? Or did you see and just think I'm going to give it a shot? Like what was your first thing that you're like that's what I want?

Jesse Ray:

Well it's, the concept of house hacking was the original thing, so I knew that was the easiest way to get into real estate for me, low like percent down, and I was able to get into a house, multiple bedrooms, like I can make some money and live for free. That was the idea. And then it turned into if I want to live in a house with other people. Already in my head was like I don't like roommates. That was just a conception I had. And then I realized, well, if I like the people I live with and they're all like minded and want to be in this growth minded community, then I'll love the people. That's what ended up happening.

Jesse Ray:

At the same time, I will say I was seeing these houses pop up in California and they were like these creator houses, these houses, these YouTube houses, these video game houses. I'm like that's not what I want to do, but that is an interesting concept the power of proximity, especially when you're all trying to strive towards a certain goal. And so for me, I was just like why don't I do that with business professionals, entrepreneurs and curate that type of environment for our house? And so that's really where the concept started. And then we just said, let's just see what happens.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I love it and, you know, I only learned about, like those creator houses maybe I don't know, maybe like a decade ago, and I thought you know what a really great idea. Everyone out of the same group is doing the same thing, and I thought you get a lot of ideas like what a good thing, though, so I love to see it being done on the entrepreneurial side, because I don't think enough entrepreneurs probably think like that yeah so what's your uh?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

so let's jump topics for a minute. Tell me, uh, what's your favorite band of all time?

Jesse Ray:

My favorite band of all time. Oh man, I grew up on hip hop and R&B, so I'm going to say J Cole is my favorite artist of all time.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I like the original, the old hip-hop like from the 90s. Before it was like so full of cursing and all the rappy stuff. It's like I have a playlist.

Jesse Ray:

It's all like OG hip-hop oh yeah, you put me on what's some of your favorites that's it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Oh, I like stuff like, uh, gangsta's Paradise and diggity and uh, I just all like I don't know all the yeah all the classics I'm trying to think I like the names. I just listened to my entire playlist about two days ago and I was like, oh, I forgot about that song and it's got stuff like Ice Ice Baby, what's his name? Oh, ice Ice Baby, what was his name?

Jesse Ray:

Oh Ice, he's on there.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

He's not gangster, but I have some stuff on there from Tupac. I don't know, I just like the original. The original was more dancey, opposed to now. It's like super rappy and there's so much cursing.

Jesse Ray:

Now just like oh my god, like my ears all up the side of my head it is interesting because there's like the mainstream rappers and then there's the more underground and there's like multiple, like different genres of rap now. So that's that's where, like the, the, which is unfortunate, but what gets pushed and promoted is that like just kind of ratchet gangster rap and a lot of cursing. But there's a lot of good artists, like an artist named Russ is one of my favorites. He talks about manifestation and, like you know, he shouts out Napoleon Hill in his song. So there is some artists that are like okay, you're actually having some substance behind your music and I love that and I actually used to be a ghost writer, so I used to write for artists coming out of college oh fun, and I've got those songs like jump, jump, just all this stuff yeah so in my age for sure, my it's all fun, it's all like earlier hip-hop, that's all everything you can dance to.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

That's kind of my exercise Put on my music and jump around and just be silly. I love it. So I'm teaching my little grandkids that kind of stuff and my daughter-in-law is like now you have to watch. I'm like listen, I listen to what they, I pay attention because I know there's a lot of stuff out there Now it's like oh, you would not want any of your kids to know.

Jesse Ray:

All right, what's your favorite food? Mr Jesse Ray, you know what? This one's funny because my favorite food of all time is sushi. And because of these allergies, I went to the allergy doctor. It's like two days ago they did that scratch test on my back. It was all red. He's like you're allergic to a lot, lot, but he's like there's one thing we got to figure out what this is. He comes back. He's like what happens when you eat seafood? I'm like, well, I love sushi and like lately and it's kind of hard to breathe, but you know, I like it so much I don't really worry about it. He's like yeah, don't ever do that again because you're highly allergic to seafood oh no, I'd be devastated if I couldn't eat sushi I know right.

Jesse Ray:

So now I'm like my favorite food might just be like a good steak, so that's probably how to switch from seafood to steak hey, listen, I had steak for dinner last night.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I ate a lot of steak. My husband ate a lot of he's a steak. He's a steak and potatoes guy and he does not like sushi at all. So whenever I go with any of my kids or my friends I'm like we're gonna go eat sushi. So maybe once in a while, like take a a little EpiPen and just like have like one of those giant like where you're like, okay, I'm going to eat everything, so I can't move, and then I'm just going to EpiPen myself because it's worth it for the minute.

Jesse Ray:

Not going to lie. I've thought about that.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I swear to you I would have to think about that. If I couldn't have it, I'd be like, oh, I don't know how bad do I want it once in a while, once in a while. What's your favorite part of the day?

Jesse Ray:

Favorite part of the day. You know what? It's at night, for whatever reason, that's when I get in my flow state. So it's at night and then it kind of messes up my morning routine, cause I like to wake up early but I just get most productive it's locked in that night, so probably like after nine o'clock.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

You know it's funny. I ask everyone that and everyone always says more. I get up in the morning and work out at 5 am and I'm just like does nobody like the nighttime? I love the nighttime. Like it gets late, the sun goes down, it's like everything is sort of like mellowed out. I am 100% a night owl, and I've probably only had 10 people say that they like the nighttime. Everyone else is like, oh, I'm up at 6 am and I was like why, though? Like why you have the choice. Why do you do that? But you know, teach the realm, that's all good. I'm 100% a night owl. So what is your biggest goal right now that you would like to accomplish, and how can the D'Wonderful family help you accomplish that goal?

Jesse Ray:

Well, I love this question. So right now I'm on a mission to help a hundred people in the next 12 months achieve financial freedom, and so we're doing that through a lot of ways. One of the main ways is our podcast. So Growth House Podcast we're just getting the word out there. It's literally been blowing up all over social media and it's really fun to watch because, as you know, there's not like virality with podcasts. It's really hard to market, it's really word of mouth is like the best way to do it, or email list, and so for us, it's getting the podcast out there and then you get to learn more about our community, you get to learn about the growth house and then from there take a step into, you know, our ecosystem.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Nice, okay, I love it. So over and I call all my people there. They're all my family, we all talk we hang out.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

We have drinks, like you and I. Everyone becomes part of my family, and one of the things that I really like to try to do is help people reach their goals. Because you know, Jesse, when you help other people, then that ends up coming back around to you. So I'm always like listen, if there's a goal, if there's something we can do, is there any way that we can help you? I'm here for it.

Jesse Ray:

Love it. Yes, the podcast. You know, being a guest on other podcasts have been huge for us as well. Just kind of getting the word out there.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Nice and your podcast is called.

Jesse Ray:

Growth House.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Growth, called Growth House Growth.

Jesse Ray:

House, just Growth House.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Okay, yeah, and then Jesse Ray, you know, pop up, yeah, so everyone you know this will be in the show notes and stuff like that. And then when we do you know the little 60, 30 second clips of each of the shows, I put all these little like sneak peeks out there. I'll make sure that we put out one that talks specifically about about your podcast and what you do. I am here, I know I have not actually done a growth house type of thing and Bill and I've talked about it a lot and we just haven't quite done it yet. But I'm like you know what I would like to. I think I'd like to get a couple and just to do it and experience it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And because everyone that does it loves it, they do. The people that I've met they love doing it. So I'm going to have to send people your way because I have people asking a lot of questions about stuff like that and I'm like, listen, I can help you with probably most of it as far as the real estate and the building and this and that, but I can't really guide you on the rest of it because I've never done it and I'm not one of these people that's like oh, I did one deal and I wrote a program and now I'm a national speaker.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

You know, because you know, we know those people. I was like I would have to say, if someone wants that I have to send them to somebody else, because it's like I'm not your person, I can't do that.

Jesse Ray:

Yeah, anything, co-living anything, uh kind of pad split like um help a lot of people in that realm. That's kind of what we're experts in. Over the last three years of having so many people come in and out, you know we've had some mistakes. We learned, and then we have the sops and now kind of correct all that wow, you're my favorite co-living person that I've met so far.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I just I love your spirit and your heart, so you're the guy. Guy, I'm going to be sending all the people to.

Jesse Ray:

Let's go Appreciate you, Duann.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

You've got that heart. It's all about. You just got to have a good heart for people and the fact that you're out trying to help people reach financial freedom. That's always been my goal is to help people get out of, like you said, the corporate. What do you call them? The golden handcuffs or something? Golden handc what'd?

Jesse Ray:

you call them the golden handcuffs or something. Golden handcuffs, yeah, especially when you're making some good money, everyone's telling you like how would you ever do that? And then you have the benefits, and then it's like kind of stuck for most people until you break away and you realize there's a whole world out there but most everyone stays stuck till they retire.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

You know you just you don't, don't have to just give your life to somebody else. Do you're going to work anyway? Do it for yourself and your family and your kids and build some generational wealth. Like it's, I don't know, I just can't imagine. I'm 65. So my family? I'm probably-.

Jesse Ray:

Dawn, you are not 65. Don't lie, shut up.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I turned 65 this year, but I'll take that. No. I know I'm like hey, but I'll take that no.

Jesse Ray:

I know I was saying you got to be mid-30s. No, no later than that, honey. Okay, if you're listening to this on audio, go on YouTube so you can, uh, you can see what I'm talking about.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

But a lot of my uh, cousins and people I grew up with they're all like retiring but they all work for, especially because we're all from ohio. A lot of them worked for factories and people and they're retiring. It's like like, when are you going to retire? I was like retire from what? Well, you know working. I'm like, but I built my company and it's my company and I love doing it, so I'm never going to retire. I I this is what I do, that I'm going to do this forever and ever and ever. I mean, you see all these older, older, like the Forbes kind of people and all of that, and they're all what are they? In their eighties? They're all still out there, warren Buffett, they're all out there still doing their thing because they built it and they like it.

Jesse Ray:

And I think, a misconception I had, which people realize this. Once you do hit this financial freedom number, for me it was just how do I replace my corporate salary, which was about six figures at the time, so how do I make six figures in passive real estate investments? And once I hit that I was like okay, cool. And then I was like wait, this is not the end game. This is when life actually starts, this is when I have the freedom to play, to win, not play, not to lose and that's when it gets fun.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, I'm with you. Amen, All right. So first I have one more question for you before we hang up, but everyone that's listening I want to thank you for being a part of the most wonderful Real Estate Podcast ever and being in the world with us today, and I want you to do me a favor If you enjoyed the show. You laughed, you learned something, you had a good time with us. I want you to do me a favor If you enjoyed the show you laughed, you learned something, you had a good time with us. I want you to subscribe.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I want you to leave me a five-star review. On the days where I teach just by myself, I read some five-star reviews, so if you'd like to have yours read, you got to leave me one and follow me on Facebook, youtube, tiktok, all the stuff. And if you want to watch podcasts really are so much more fun to watch Go to my YouTube channel, dowonderfulrealestate, and just watch. I have amazing guests. I don't know if I have one quite as handsome as you, though. I mean, I'm telling you girls, are you single?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I am single All right, girls, I'm telling you, right here, you got to check this guy out, this is a keeper. Telling you hey, listen, real estate. You know, I met my husband at a real estate seminar, so we were married. There you go, it's possible like not only is it my business, it was my dating pool I love it.

Jesse Ray:

I love it. I'm always thinking about that.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I'm probably gonna probably meet my future wife at a conference, a mastermind, or something like that that's why I'm at bill and I had a rule I did not date investors because I don't want to date someone. I always just talk about real estate. And I was single for a decade and I met Bill. It's like all that went out the window and we got married and that was the end of it.

Jesse Ray:

Love it Happily ever after.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, for real Okay.

Jesse Ray:

Now, I do want you to give us a parting word of wisdom, but just a single word, a single word of wisdom.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I'll say association. So everyone that listens, they all know that the goal is to write association on a little sticky. Put it on your mirror, and every day they go, association, that's the word of the week. So what does it mean to you?

Jesse Ray:

For me it goes back to our motto you become who you surround yourself with, and there's even Harvard studies that are like 25 years of. A Harvard study said 95% of your success is going to be dictated by the five people you spend the most time around. That's just really it. At the end of the day, you got to watch who your inner circle is and surround yourself with good people.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

All right. So there you have it, and that's a really good word of the way. That's what I think it is too. You are, you become who you surround yourself with. I agree 100%. So I always just like to know what my guests, what that word means to them, because different words, you know, mean different things to all of us. So, guys, y'all have your. I give homework, so y'all have your homework association. And you know, really, think about who are the five people that you spend time around. Are you outside, like your family? Like who are you hanging out with? Are you hanging out with people that are partying and up doing drugs all night and run around and doing that? Are you hanging out business people? Or who are you hanging out with? Because you really are the sum of who you spend your time with, and you will find that as you make more money, your inner circle completely changes and one of these days you look around and go dang, everyone I hang out with is like successful, every single person, like that's so cool.

Jesse Ray:

And when someone goes, hey, let's go eat at a restaurant that's 500 bucks a plate you're like sure I can do that right 100, and I think it's fun also when uh, you know, even when you're eating at a restaurant, you get to play credit card roulette, where you give the person all the credit cards and you don't care who picks up the tab, and it's fun. That's the people you want to hang out with. It's a lot more fun, fun You're able to go travel with them.

Jesse Ray:

So, yeah, keep listening to this podcast reach financial freedom. That's when life starts.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Amen. All right, everyone, we'll be back next week, same bat time, same bat channel, and remember that the truth is in the red letter. All right, jesse. Thank you everyone. Ciao, I'll see you guys, next week.