Connecting Tech with Strategy: A CEO’s Perspective

In this insightful episode, we sit down with Bill Nye, CEO of Bayshore Properties, to explore the evolving landscape of multifamily real estate, innovation in property management, and the challenges of building strong teams in today’s competitive market.

🌟 Key Highlights:

•Bill’s journey into real estate: From pumping gas in Ohio to leading a successful company.

•How baseball analytics shaped his approach to business.

•The impact of technology like revenue management tools and AI in multifamily housing.

•Addressing talent gaps and fostering a culture of trust and innovation.

🎧 Key Takeaways:

•Why fear is not your friend when embracing risk.

•How to align technology roadmaps with business strategies.

•The importance of elevated relationships for driving team success.

📲 Don’t miss this engaging conversation packed with actionable insights for leaders in the real estate and tech industries.

Connect with Bill Nye:

•Website:https://www.billnyeapartmentguy.com/

🔔 Subscribe for more discussions on leadership, innovation, and transformative business strategies!

#RealEstate #Innovation #Leadership #ParticleAcceleratorPodcast

Transcript

Ben Johnson

[00.00.00]

 Hey everyone, welcome to the Particle Accelerator Podcast, where we talk to future thinking business leaders about how to accelerate their business and grow their team. I'm here with Bill Nye. Bill, why don't you introduce 

Bill Nye

[00.00.11]

 yourself? Oh. Good morning. Thank you for having me. So I'm the chief executive officer for a company out of Crownpoint, Indiana called Bayshore Properties. We've been around for about 20 years. Um, you know, our bread and butter is investing in multifamily real estate. Uh, you know, it's a great place to put your money for sure. Has been for, uh, for a very long time. And, and so, uh, you know, I've been doing this for 30 years and, and, uh, you know, it's one of those things, once you get into it, you're just kind of trapped into it. And I've I've made my life now over the last 30 years, didn't plan on on going that route, but that's what happened. Oh, 

Ben Johnson

[00.00.49]

 cool. I'm super excited about this topic. My wife and I are want to be real estate investors who have a couple rental properties. And, um, and so it'll be exciting to get into that and see how, uh, how that game is changing and how you're adapting to that. Let me get to know you a little bit. Uh, and one of the ways that I love to do this is what was your first job? So for me, it was a paper out. But how did you make your first dollar as a unit? 

Bill Nye

[00.01.17]

 Yeah, my first dollar as I was pumping gas at a Soho gas station in West Salem, Ohio, back when gas was, uh, $0.66 a gallon, 

Ben Johnson

[00.01.27]

 $0.66 a gallon. That's awesome. 

Bill Nye

[00.01.30]

 Yeah. I'm back. Then we pumped the gas for you. We cleaned your windshield, and we checked your oil. I 

Ben Johnson

[00.01.34]

 loved it, I love it. 

Bill Nye

[00.01.36]

 Um, cool. 

Ben Johnson

[00.01.37]

 Well, um, what choice or hobby did you have as a child that inspired what you do career wise today? 

Bill Nye

[00.01.44]

 Well, you're a hobby that I had as a child that inspired me. I mean, I'm, I'm a I'm a fanatical baseball fan. And so I would say that baseball, because it's such an analytical game and even before, you know, analytics became a thing with Billy Ball, of course, the Brad Pitt movie, you know, Moneyball. Um, but, you know, I've always loved the idea that baseball was a game that was filled with analytics before we even use the term analytics. And, um, you know, as a kid growing up, I collected baseball cards. I still collect them today. You can see a small portion of my collection over my shoulder. And, um, you know, I, I would sit and I would, I would study and memorize, uh, the statistics on the back of baseball cards. And interestingly enough, I've found that that has actually, uh, uh, been a really good skill. That's helped me a lot in what I do today. 

Ben Johnson

[00.02.36]

 Yeah, that's really cool. Um, yeah. Super, super good. Yeah. Like the the studying of the data points around baseball players kind of gets you in that, that mode of how could I use data to manage other things? Uh, super cool. What was your favorite and least favorite course in school? 

Bill Nye

[00.02.57]

 Hell. Well, Favre was history. Um, I've always been fascinated by. By history. Uh, American history in particular. Uh, least favorite. Um, you know, I, I took some foreign languages in high school, and, and, uh, you know, I wish I would have really given that more time and attention today, but, you know, I didn't see the world becoming the melting pot to the to the extent that it is today. And, boy, I, you know, I wish my Spanish was a lot better than it is. 

Ben Johnson

[00.03.30]

 Yeah for sure, I agree. Yeah. I took a couple of years of Spanish and it comes back when you travel. Uh, but you have to have that immersion experience I think uh, preferably right around the time you're, you're 

Bill Nye

[00.03.44]

 learning, 

Ben Johnson

[00.03.46]

 um, immersion when it helps. Yeah, that's a great one. Um, what quote from a famous person lives in your mind rent free? 

Bill Nye

[00.03.53]

 Oh, um, this is an easy one for me. So, um. Uh, Henry Ford said, whether you think you can or think you can't. Either way, you're right. And I remind myself of that all the time that if you think you can't, you're right. You can't. Because. Because you're in your own head, you've convinced yourself you can't. Um, but if you can, you convince yourself. You can guess what you can. 

Ben Johnson

[00.04.21]

 Yeah. Totally. Uh, limiting beliefs, uh, are super powerful, right? Like what we believe. Uh, internally, we use this iceberg of belief, and it kind of starts with your core values as a person. And and, you know, we walk around with, like, these limiting beliefs that are far more dangerous than anything else we're going to run into in terms 

Bill Nye

[00.04.42]

 of our trajectory. 

Ben Johnson

[00.04.44]

 That's good. What do you think the greatest invention or discovery in the past 300 years has 

Bill Nye

[00.04.49]

 been? Well, uh, my wife and I live in, in, uh, just south of Houston. So for us, it's absolutely air conditioning. 

Ben Johnson

[00.04.58]

 Oh, I love it. Yeah. Houston. I'm in Dallas area, and, uh, man, it was 115 yesterday, and, uh, I think I've just been running from, um, air conditioner to air conditioner for the last few 

Bill Nye

[00.05.11]

 months. Yeah. When we had, you know, the hurricane came through and it went right over our house, uh, you know, in June, and we lost power for four days. And, uh, you know, I posted on social media, I now I know what it was like to live in, in, uh, Texas in 1824. Right, 

Ben Johnson

[00.05.28]

 right. Yeah, totally. I had a I had one of my project managers. He was, uh, without power for, for about a week, and he was, uh, he basically charging his devices in the car, enjoying the air conditioning. His neighbor was able to get a Generac installed faster than the. The linemen were able to get everything. I mean, bless their heart, they were working so hard, but, um, they were able to get a Generac installed before the power came back on and then like it came on the next day. So. So now they're prepared. All right. Well, let's get into some. My favorite topic is innovation. And, um, what tech trends significantly impacted you or your industry and how has your company responded? 

Bill Nye

[00.06.13]

 Yeah, so that's an easy one for me. And it's and it's under fire, unfortunately, um, you know, Congress and and, uh, our friends up in Washington DC are giving this one a really hard look with a lot of misunderstanding. And that's revenue management, you know, years, years ago, you know, that the, you know, the travel industry, you know, the airlines started, you know, creating their own revenue management tool for selling their seats based on supply and demand. The hotel industry picked up on that. The multifamily industry has picked up on it. And, you know, no matter how smart somebody thinks they are, uh, you know, this technology does a far better job. And, uh, you know, not only can it see the supply and demand as it's happening today, but it's predictive as well, you know, based on our lease expirations, based on historical data. And for me, that's been a real game changer. Um, unfortunately, there's like I said, there's a lot of misunderstanding about what it is. Um, there's a lot of folks in DC who believe that it is nothing more than a price fixing tool that we we control the algorithms, uh, working with our competitors to set the price in the market. Nothing could be further from the truth. There's absolutely no truth to that whatsoever. Um, so, uh, and let me understand. So this is a software that you can find out the appropriate lease rates of a rental property or a, um, probably even like an STR and figure out, like, how much should I charge people to stay here and, um. 

Ben Johnson

[00.07.46]

 Why? Why do you think there's the negative side of that? Just because they feel like they're trying, you're trying to squeeze as much as you can from the renter 

Bill Nye

[00.07.55]

 or yeah, you know, a politician's or will say that rent is out of control. And I understand why they say that everybody is struggling, uh, you know, to pay their bills these days. Um, but what I love about this software is it's able to look at our current supply and demand, and then it's able to look into the future and say, well, well, gosh, you've got a lot of leases expiring and say, November of 2024, you don't want any more. So it will adjust the the price offerings to the prospect to try and steer them away from. Alisa expires in November, because that's bad for our business, because historical data says that in November we're going to have a hard time releasing that apartment if they choose to move out and not renew. And so, you know, then it also looks at the supply and demand within the submarket itself and set those prices accordingly. But yeah, you know, I think they're looking for any, any angle to try and, you know, get votes and keep themselves elected. We've heard in the last uh, I guess, uh, month ago it was, uh, Joe Biden made reference to a a national, uh, rent control, um, policy. And so, you know, there definitely there's definitely a spotlight on rents and and I understand that and you know, and I and I think, you know, one of the things I've said for a long time is there's a very fine line between ambitious and being ambitious and being greedy. It's a very fine line. And I say that you cross the line when you hurt other people to, to enrich yourself. If you're ambitious, you're helping other people, and if you happen to enrich yourself in the process, that's a cherry on top of the ice cream, right? Um, but there's a very fine line, and I see a lot of people cross that line, and I get it. Um, but the truth of the matter is, most owner operators out there, you know, they want to provide a good, quality place for people to live, uh, at a fair price. But you have to understand the, the tremendous cost of of owning and managing multifamily real estate today, between the huge increases we've seen in tax rates and the massive increases we've seen in property insurance rates, you know, it's choking the life right out of us. And so, you know, we're not as greedy as people think. You know, we're good, hard working people who like to say we want to provide, you know, a good quality place for people to live at a price they can afford. 

Ben Johnson

[00.10.22]

 Well, yeah. And a home. The home is a depreciating, depreciating asset. It may be taking some time for it to depreciate, but it does need maintenance and upkeep and reinvestment at some stage in the game. Um, uh, so what what three technology innovations are you betting on to drive your, your future business growth? 

Bill Nye

[00.10.46]

 Finding that rare or that oddball that when I meet with someone who wants to, uh, present, you know, new technology to me, uh, a lot of people in my chair that one of the first questions I ask is, well, who are your current customers? Who are your current clients? They want to know that this has proven that, you know, good, reputable companies are are using your your software, your technology. I never asked that question, and I never asked that question because here's the truth. I hope the answer is no one. You'll be our first. I love always being ahead of everybody else when it comes to new technology. Um. But, you know, one of the big ones for us is, is, you know, lean management, uh, where, you know, we for years, we've relied on our onsite leasing agents, uh, to manage, you know, their leads when prospects are our text and email and calling the property, then working through those leads. Uh, technology does a far better job. Uh, you know, at some point, I think, uh, you know, it has to be handed off to a human being. And so we try to make sure that it's set up and works that way, but it just does a far better job because, you know, a lot of this stuff is basic, fundamental information. You know, how much you know, does it cost, what are your fees, that sort of thing. And and the technology allows us to answer those questions 24 hours a day. And, you know, one of the things I've been saying for years is that if we don't get back to our prospects, you know, I, I compare that to you own and operate a restaurant and you have your food supplies delivered by, you know, a company like Gordon Food Services. They drop it off outside your back door at 5:00 in the morning, and you don't put that food, you don't carry it in and put it in the freezer. The refrigerator begin to prep for the day. You let it set outside in the Texas sun. All day long, your restaurant's in trouble. Well that food supply that those are our prospect leads. And you know, if we don't work them immediately and quickly, you know, they're going to spoil, they're going to go bad. People are looking for a home. They're not going to they're not going to sit around and wait for us to get back to them. 2 or 3 days later, they're going to move on to our competition, and they're going to find somebody who can meet their needs. And so the fact that we can now do this, you know, 24 hours a day, you know, that's a big that's a really big help. The other one is, um, the one job that it's always caused me to be a little concern. Um, because as much as we want to believe that that people are stable, the reality is there are a lot of people out there who are not stable. And, um, you know, uh, dealing with delinquent rent is actually a risky proposition. And so you never know how somebody's going to respond to an eviction notice on their door. Look, you signed a contract. We are. It's never our goal to see anyone become homeless. That's never our goal to see anyone put out of their home. Our goal is to, you know, be able to work with you and and see you and your family stay in your home. But you signed a contract and we have to do our part. You have to do your part, and your part is to pay rent. Our part is to maintain the apartment, you know, ensure that it's habitable, uh, clean, safe, so on and so forth. Um, and so, you know, when leasing agents were managed, property managers or other people on site are posting those, you know, eviction notices on people's doors, making those phone calls, you know, the follow up emails. Sometimes that causes people to fly off the handle. And so now we're able to use AI to do that for us. And not only are we seeing, you know, a positive impact of a higher collection percentage, but I also personally have a better sense of, well, you know, it's not Betty in the office who's calling. Uh, therefore, the resident may not like that. You know, they're they're having that pressure applied to pay the rent, but they're not upset with Betty because Betty is not the one who's applying the pressure. You know, it's a it's a chat bot. And so that gives me a little bit of, of, uh, you know, comfort in that aspect as well. Yeah. Oh that's great. Yeah. I mean, collections is important, right? We in any business? Uh, I know we've we've 

Ben Johnson

[00.14.58]

 got to pay our bills. And collections is unfortunately a necessary part of that. 

Bill Nye

[00.15.03]

 Um, but it also, you know, if the person's like, hey, I'm, I'm just two weeks late. Cool. The I bought from collect that and, um, and get you the data and. Yeah. What an awful job. Right. Trying to collect people who are having trouble, um, paying their rent, 

Ben Johnson

[00.15.20]

 um, you know, hustle them. So just in terms of your employee satisfaction and work life balance, they probably enjoy coming to work, not having to make those calls or only having to make them more severe ones. That's great. Well, what are some of the more significant gaps between your ambitions and the realities today? Where do you still see there's some room or some opportunity where you wish there was a solution? Uh, but it's just a gap still. 

Bill Nye

[00.15.53]

 Yeah, that's a real easy question. And it's this is something that's I don't want to sound cliche, but kept me awake at night for probably five plus years now. And that is the the lack of talent pool. On being able to staff our properties from a maintenance standpoint. Um, that's a that's a massive, massive gap. Um, being finding people a want to do that kind of work and be have some, some technical skills. Look, I love guys like Mike Rowe, you know, a dirty Jobs Mike. And you know he's out there. He's he's offering scholarships to young people to go to technical, uh, technical schools and learn to be a plumber, an electrician, uh, an HVAC mechanic. And, and, you know, I grew up in a blue collar home. You know, we were farmers in Ohio, but my dad worked out outside of the farm as a as a carpenter for a home builder. And so, you know, I grew up my dad, you know, taught me those blue collar skills and and how to do, you know, your own repairs and that sort of thing. And, but, you know, I think when the gaming industry exploded, you know, kids went from working on things to working on their gaming skills. Right? And I get it. And I'm not being critical of that. That's just a shift in, in society. But that shift has has changed the way people look at how they're going to exist as adults, how they're going to pay their bills, and what are the rewarding jobs and, and, and viable career fields. And so, you know, nobody goes through high school saying, I'm going to be a maintenance person at an apartment community, and nobody says that. And, you know, and you're not going to get rich doing it. Um, and so we have a terrible, terrible time staffing those open positions. Our customers feel the pain when we're understaffed because, you know, our goal is to respond to a service request within 24 hours of when it comes in. But if we're supposed to have five people on the crew and we have three, you know, that makes it impossible, you know? Um, so there are there are attempts to find solutions or to introduce solutions to technology. And some of them sound like they have some viability. They may get some rose, some legs and and and help. Um, I'm just not convinced. Uh, and, you know, for me, that's a head scratcher. Like, how how can we use the way that the world is changing with technology, you know, to to solve this problem? One of the solutions that's out there, uh, there's a company. That, um, if you become their client, uh, when somebody moves in or, you know, your, your existing residents, you give them a QR code, uh, that they hang on their refrigerator. It's a magnet. And if they have a need after hours, they scan that QR code, and it facetimes, uh, you know, a retired or, you know, a qualified maintenance guy somewhere. It could be in Topeka, Kansas, but he doesn't do this for a living anymore. And now let me let me see the problem. And he will try to troubleshoot it through the phone, uh, so that you get a quicker response. Uh, maybe the people who are on call don't have to get called out because they were able to resolve it, you know, through the phone. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Tell tell them medicine for maintenance. 

Ben Johnson

[00.19.16]

 Yeah. No. That's cool. Uh. That's cool. I'm, uh, definitely in, uh, the circles I run in, there's a bunch of these kind of, like, two sided marketplaces popping up because they are collecting, uh, really the the asset here are the folks that have created careers around this. So, like, uh, one of my buddies is the CEO of treads. Well, treads is is mobile, 

Bill Nye

[00.19.44]

 uh, tire repair, general car maintenance. So it's just dudes that own a van have already decided to go in this. Well, he's networked with all of them. And now you subscribe to treads and you get a subscription for basically a subscription to take care of your car. You don't have to pay high dollar out of pocket every time you're you want to do, uh, wheels and tires. Um, and, uh, this has been happening in the home services industry, certainly if you are a handyman, uh, friends with like, the house called pro guys. So there's SaaS software to help you run your business. But it's interesting to see your perspective is that there's still, um, 

Ben Johnson

[00.20.28]

 a lack of access to reputable handymen. Um, my dad owns a handyman business. He's run that for many years. Um, so it's still really interesting to see that that connection is not quite made it to the property management customer. 

Bill Nye

[00.20.43]

 Yeah. And so you're, you're you're exhibit A where you this is what your dad does. And you grew up in that home and you've gone a completely different route. Right. And so that's what we're finding. And you know, so then the challenge we have is that we're when we are able to find people who can and want to do this, then, you know, we we have to we deal with the language, uh, you know, barriers where, you know, they don't speak English. And, uh, so then, you know, you got to navigate through that. And so now technology comes in with, you know, Google Translate or something like that because, you know, it's the only option we have. Well, what 

Ben Johnson

[00.21.21]

 um, what is the biggest challenge you, you feel to maintaining a competitive edge in your industry. 

Bill Nye

[00.21.28]

 There's not any real name recognition. So for instance, you know, you want to stay in a nice hotel. You choose a Hilton or a marriott, you know, you're staying in a nice hotel, right? Uh, there's that name recognition. Um, apartments don't have that, um, should, but we don't. There are big, you know, national firms out there, um, that you can find in practically every state. But, you know, how do you differentiate differentiate yourself, you know, from your competition. What can you do, you know, to stand out at, you know, to build that reputation that makes people say, uh, they're they're reliable, uh, you know. It's it's a real struggle. And I'm not a marketing person. I haven't figured that one out. Um, but I think that's, you know, I tell the team all the time, everybody's got tech. Everybody's using basically the same tech. Um, and so for me, it's about making sure that that we've got an incredible team on site who's passionate. They care, uh, they give their best every day. You know, one of the things I talk about all the time is for anybody who goes to the gym on a regular basis, you'll have multiple days where you wake up and you just don't have it. You just don't want to go, but you go anyhow, right? And and you know the same thing with your team. You're going to tell the team all the time, I this is a grind. You know, we have office hours, but we never close. Wrong call 24 hours a day to our customers. And so, you know, I think the thing that that's going to set us apart, uh, in the markets where we have a presence is, you know, that that reliability, that responsiveness, that you go to property A and, you know, people are are indifferent. You go to one of our properties and our people are very passionate, even when they don't feel like it, they give their best and so gotta work really hard to to make it worth their time to be that way. Right? Um, you know, it's you can go to KFC and get a chicken sandwich, you can go to chick fil A and get a chicken sandwich. But they're not. It's not the same experience. The truth of the matter is sorry KFC and sorry chick fil A, but the truth of the matter is they're both handing you a sack of poison in a paper bag. You know, it's it's fast food, but there's a big difference in the experience. So for me, uh, that's really the focus is what can we do to create. You know, I'm on the road all the time, and I can I can rent from any number of rental car businesses. But I choose enterprise and I choose them intentionally because the experience is unlike any of the any other competition. 

Ben Johnson

[00.24.14]

 That's my experience, a lot of it. I mean, that's such a good call out, uh, to any to any anyone listening, I mean, comfort and really, your competitive edge is also meaningless without that. Uh, because if your people are grouchy, unhappy, don't don't embrace the hospitality of whatever product or service that you sell. Then then we'll never even be able to really react or experience your, your competitive advantage. So that's that's great. Um, what is, um. 

Bill Nye

[00.24.46]

 Uh, 

Ben Johnson

[00.24.47]

 how do how do you approach risk when you're implementing something new? 

Bill Nye

[00.24.51]

 I approach it with, um, the understanding that for every problem that, um, the idea of the solution may solve. Have a plan for the unexpected, unforeseen challenges. And so I have a high propensity for risk. Um, even in my personal life, I'm a little bit of a weirdo. People say, what do you do for fun? And, uh, the answer is, if I can die doing it, I probably want to do it. It's just. It's just really weird. I've. I've done a lot of rock climbing and mountain climbing, and I've stood on, on edges with, with others that have said, man, you got to back away. You're making me nervous. You know, I like to kind of live on the edge, if you will, just I, I find that exhilarating. So I like to take risks, but I have but I, you know, I understand that I'm working with other people's money and so I have to be respectful of that. But I go into it with the understanding that, yes, this is going to solve a problem, but there's going to come an unexpected problem. I've never launched a technology, ever. I've never launched a process or a new idea that didn't come with with some unforeseen challenge. And so I go through the whole process really trying to the best you can prepare for that. Um, General Patton, uh, gave one of my favorite quotes. He said a, a good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan executed later. And so, you know, we're not going to have all the answers. We're not going to know what some of these challenges are. Let's let's stop having meetings and talking about it and let's, you know, let's jump off the plane and, and just have a parachute on your back so that you don't splat into the ground. Right. Something's going to go wrong. So but you know, I you know, I see companies all the time. One of the things I often remind my leadership team is that companies don't fail because they lack a strategy. They fail because they lack a commitment to the strategy. So let's be decisive. Let's let's make a decision and let's commit to it. And when something goes wrong because it's going to, we don't suddenly change our commitment. Let's fix what's wrong and and maintain our commitment to the strategy that that we've, you know, that we've, uh, you know, merit ourselves to. Yeah. And a lot of times, the assumption of risk, uh, I'm going tandem skydiving for my first time on Friday. Might be my first, uh, first jump out of a perfectly good airplane. And, uh, as I as I think about the moment of jumping out or the moment of landing, then yes, there's some fear and trepidation of those specific moments. But as I zoom out to the experience of like, man, it's going to be so exciting to go with my friends, to get some orientation and to go through the experience and jump. And then we get to go to dinner as I zoom out even a little bit. Really, those specific fear of those moments or what's the worst that could happen, really blend away. And I find that when you're trying to implement these big changes, it's the it's really the camaraderie and the strength that you're building with your team. 

Ben Johnson

[00.28.15]

 Um, that kind of it's almost like the risk is just a counterbalance to the muscle of change. And so you're getting better at making changes with your team. And so, yeah, there are risky things. But I love what you said there about the commitment to it is is really what it's all about. Because if your team is good at change, there's nothing that can stop your team. 

Bill Nye

[00.28.38]

 Yeah that's right. You know, one of the things my team here is going to say all the time is that fear is not our friend. And and so, you know, fear. Fear keeps you from seeing the beauty that's on the other side. And so, you know, you could go up on that plane and and say, man, sorry, just I can't do it. And you ride the plane back. Years ago, I was at a tech conference out in Santa Barbara, California. I'm terrified of of drowning. Just when I was 11 years old, my brother took me fishing on our uncle's lake. We we. My brother was five years older than me and much, much bigger than me. He was six feet tall and probably £175 in the sixth grade. He was a he was a beast, you know, he was a tree trunk as a as a kid. So we'd paddle out to the lake where fishing and all of a sudden my brother grabs me, throws me into the lake. I couldn't swim, and he knew that, threw me into the lake and quickly paddled away laughing. I had two choices in that moment. I could give up and drown, or I could fight like crazy and get to the shore. Um. I've never forgiven my brother. I to this day, I don't speak to him. No, I'm kidding, I do. Um, but. You know that that instilled in me this terrible fear of drowning. So years ago, I'm at a tech conference out in Santa Barbara, and the founder of this company said, uh, you know, hey, when you're leaving, I'm going to I'm here for a couple of days. Um, what are you doing tomorrow? You know, I just was going to take in the sights as my first time ever to Santa Barbara, and, uh, he said, uh, uh, let me come by and pick you up. I've got something special planned. He picks me up. We're going paddle board it. I've never been paddle boarding. We're going paddle boarding out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And every part of me said, don't do this. Don't do this. You're going to drown. Don't do this. And I just kept reminding myself, here's not your friend. And I'm going to tell you, it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life to be, you know, several hundred yards out into the Pacific Ocean, learning the paddle board. At one point, we both just sat on our boards and we just sat out there. It was the most beautiful, calm day there were. I mean, it was just like the water is like glass. And we just sat out there for probably 45 minutes to an hour just talking about life. And and I'll never forget that experience. Fear is not true. On the other side of fear is beauty. 

Ben Johnson

[00.30.58]

 That's so good. Um, and since you told us such an amazing story a couple of weeks ago, we were at, uh, we did a guys trip. Uh, me and a small group of guys, uh, there were six of us, and we went and hiked to fourteeners, and, um, we got right to the summit. And the scramble was a little more significant than what we had expected. No, no real risk. It was a difficult class to, uh, just means there's no rocks that are going to fall on your head. You don't need a helmet. You don't need any climbing apparatus. You're just going to need to use at least three points of contact at all times. Or you could fall and hurt yourself. And, uh, one of our, our buddies, uh, got, you know, amygdala hijacked with some fear of heights that we didn't really know. And I don't think he expected it to show up at that particular time, but it was no joke about 100ft from the summit, and there was no way we were going to let him bow out of just accomplishing the next 100ft of climbing, next 200ft of climbing to get to the summit and experience what you know, what we had worked so hard. We had climbed, you know, 1400, 1400, uh, you know, for 4500ft of elevation. It's a pretty grueling hike. We were sitting at the basically the tippy top of Mount Harvard, and we're like, no, you're doing it. And we were able to coach him over some some pretty paralyzing fear and get him to the summit. And he of course, he was super appreciative that we wouldn't let it slide. Right. All that work just to that last little bit. So yeah, fear is not your friend, I love it. Tell me a little bit about how you plan. Um, you know, what advice can you share for connecting technology roadmaps or just roadmaps in general, uh, with your overall business strategy? 

Bill Nye

[00.32.55]

 Yeah. I think it's important to to make sure that, you know, you're having the right conversations with the right people. Um, you know, one of the things in our industry I constantly remind my leadership team is that whatever decision we make, we're not the ones who have to live with it. We're not the ones who have to make it work. So let's let's do a little bit of due diligence. Let's let's not prolong this to, you know, a level of nauseam, but I want to make sure that that, you know, we are talking to the right people so that we're identifying, you know, what problem are we trying to solve. And that's I asked that question constantly when we have these meetings is, you know, what's the problem we're trying to solve? Make sure that everybody's in agreement on what problem we're trying to solve, and then we can move on to, okay, how will this solve it? Uh, and sometimes the answer is it won't. Uh, so then we know we can push that one off to the side and move on to maybe a different solution. But I think that's for me. That's, you know, I see the mistake I see a lot of leaders make is that that, you know, look, I've been around for a long time. Uh, I know what I'm doing. I've reached this level because I have a proven track record, and therefore nobody's more qualified to make a decision in May. Okay, I get a you know, I'm sitting in my office, you know, not seeing the struggles of the person out in the field. Like, man, this doesn't work. This is man, you know, and and so, you know, I want to make sure that I've identified who are the right people to talk to, to bring in on this and, uh, you know, hear their opinions on it, what struggles they're having. And, um, you know, then we're able to make a better informed decision and they know what's coming. I see that as, uh, happen all the time to where there's, you know, the first time people find out there's a change coming is when it's too late. Hey, as of tomorrow, we're doing ABC, and they had no idea this was coming. And, um, you know, you talked about, you know, you know, strengthening that muscle. You know, when it comes to, to, uh, you know, embracing change and you don't give people a lot of time to prepare for it. And I think that's a I think that's a mistake a lot of leaders make. 

Ben Johnson

[00.35.04]

 Mhm. Yeah. That's so good. Uh, I see that a lot with marketing. Um, just the risk around marketing spending. So I, I did some marketing at some point in some time. And now I just see a lot of leaders convinced themselves. That their particular batch of users are the hardest to communicate to. They just don't seem to understand. And, um, and it just, it seems like this meaning that we've interpreted from the, the different marketing that we've tried. And so, um, I just see a lot of that kind of, 

Bill Nye

[00.35.42]

 uh, blocked thinking, um, that really blocks their whole marketing roadmap and how they're going to tie their business strategy. And I think it just becomes this underlying belief that my users are super. They're the hardest to get to adopt. And, uh, and then when the reality is, is that like it's our responsibility to be understood, and if you have real value and you communicate it properly, there are more than enough customers to be successful. There's kind of this abundance mindset, um, that if you communicate properly to a customer, if you said, hey, you have a dollar, I'll give you five. Nobody is not going to accept that value proposition. Um, but we have to work really hard on how to craft that message. And, um, and, and oftentimes our products require education. So we have to start with like problem based statements. And um, and so yeah, just I see that, that, that cruft, that mental cruft a lot on the, the, the marketing side. 

Ben Johnson

[00.36.46]

 Where I would love to take this is. What lessons have you learned from technique? Any initiative doesn't have to be a tech initiative, but from an initiative that failed to deliver expected value. Well, 

Bill Nye

[00.36.58]

 the first lesson I learned and I, I really try to live by this now, is I remind myself constantly when we're looking at any kind of change, whether it's new technology, a new process, uh, or even, um, you know, purchasing a new asset. Uh, I constantly remind myself throughout the entire process that my title and position doesn't make me right. I'm as qualified as capable of being wrong as the next person. Um, you know, I so taking that mindset, um, I think makes it easy for me to be more open to, uh, listening to what other people are saying and what they're feeling. And, um, you know, years ago, I made a marketing decision that I thought was brilliant. Um, shared it with the team. Everybody nodded their head in agreement. We launched it, and it was an epic failure, a tremendous failure. Um, because I didn't do my research, I didn't I didn't dig in and and really know that the facts. I didn't know the market data as well as I thought I did. And we had to live with that decision for six months before we could get out of it and, and shift to something that actually would work. And, and when it happened, I'll never forget. Um, you know, I stood in front of the team and I, I acknowledge my my mistake. And, um. Basically everybody said we knew this was a terrible idea, and that was a real moment for me. 

Ben Johnson

[00.38.28]

 Yeah, I could have told you so, but I didn't 

Bill Nye

[00.38.30]

 know. And they didn't. And so rather than get upset that they didn't, I really went home that night and I said, what am I doing? That made them feel like they couldn't tell me this was a bad idea. How do I change that dynamic so it never happens again? And so I've really tried to, to lead with, with, uh, you know, a, a a better level of humility, if you will, or approachability, vulnerability, whatever ability word you want to use. Um, so that, you know, people understand I mean it when I say my title and position doesn't make me right. So if I'm not right. Tell me, because, um, I lead with this, this real strong conviction that we win together. We lose together. And even though I made that decision, we all lost because of that decision. We all suffered, you know, as a result of it. So, you know, let's let's embrace that mentality that we win together. We lose together when we when we make a good decision and it works out well, we all win. It's it's it's better for all of us, our customers, you know, our entire team, our investors. And when we don't, we all lose our customers, lose our associates lose, our investors lose. So, you know, I try to make sure that everybody understands that. And we we operate on a daily basis with that belief that we win together. We lose together. And my title doesn't make me right. 

Ben Johnson

[00.39.55]

 Yeah. How do you, um, counter that to what I find is that, you know, I'm taking folks and I'm pushing them through their comfort zone into a growth zone. They'll butt up against a stress zone or a place where, hey, the wheels are coming off because I'm. I'm performing. Um, and then they'll kind of pull back into their performance zone. But how do you caveat that, um, because I find sometimes folks will disagree because it's pushing it's pushing into the growth zone. It's it's taking them outside of their comfort zone. So how do you know where to listen and where to push? 

Bill Nye

[00.40.33]

 Yeah, because I think that's really important. And the one thing that I, you know, I'm, I'm very aware of is that when I walk into a room or I show up at a property simply because I, I carry the title of CEO, that that alone, regardless of, of, of, you know, who I am and, and how I view myself, you know, that title alone can put people on edge. And so I try to be really aware of that. But, you know, you're right. What? You know, why is this person resisting? Why are they pushing back? Is it because they truly don't believe this is a good idea, or because it's making them uncomfortable? What I found is that if if you work really hard to elevate relationships, then you can. That allows you to then elevate the perspective, but you can't elevate the perspective until you've elevated the relationship. And so what I try to do is make sure that the relationship is elevated to the point where we can have a candid, open conversation about it to change their perspective. 

Ben Johnson

[00.41.31]

 Mhm. Yeah. No that's great. Just the openness to transparency and making sure that it's a two way street. Love it. 

Bill Nye

[00.41.39]

 Yeah. Because that's really the battle that's going on is that you know our perspective is our perspective. We only know what we know. And and so how do you get that? How do you elevate that. And I found that when when you elevate the relationship and that means that there's, there's trust. Um, you know and and when I, when I, I set across from you, if you trust that I have your, your, you know, your, your best intentions, you know what's best for you. You know the heart of what I'm doing. Um, you know that trust is truly thriving in that relationship. It's it's easier to get you to to take that next step up that tree, even though it's paralyzing because of your your fear of heights. You know, like with your friend, you know, your friend, ultimately, you know, continued the journey because he trusted you guys weren't going to let anything bad happen to him. Right? He didn't want to do it, but he the trust was stronger than the fear. And that's that's a elevated relationship. Because that relationship was elevated, the perspective was able to be elevated. Yeah. 

Ben Johnson

[00.42.43]

 I love that idea of elevated relationships. Um, are there any other, uh, ways that you cultivate culture, um, in like, a culture of innovation inside your organization? 

Bill Nye

[00.42.55]

 Yeah. I think it's important to, um, to keep in mind that, that if you're if you're really trying to get people to buy in, try things differently, uh, step out of their comfort zone. Um, you've you've got to you've got to make sure that you're communicating with them where they are, that you understand their pain points, you understand their struggles. One of the things I do, uh, not every Friday, but most every Friday, is I write a message to the entire organization, and it's called Fridays feast. And Friday's feast means that, you know, I think it's important to feed the soul, to feed, you know, feed the mind, feed the emotions as much as it is to feed the body. And so my Fridays feasts are original messages written by me to the team to really identify how they might be. And I do it on Friday in particular. So that and I try to do it early in the day. I don't want to do it late in the day. Um, as people are thinking about wrapping up and starting their weekend. So I try to get to it in the morning. Um, but, you know, I do it so that, you know, as they are finishing a week where maybe the but they've been beat up. It's been a tough week. You know, they, they've, you know struggled you know with the weather, the heat. You know we have properties up in the Chicago area. They've been pushing and shoveling snow all week. And they're worn out. They're exhausted. And it's just an inspirational message. You know it's a win one for the Gipper speech, uh, if you will, because I think that's important. I think leaders sometimes forget the fact that the team needs to be picked up. I try to I try to remember that it's not my job to motivate. I think motivation is very personal. Um, everybody has their own reason why they do what they do, and motivation can be good or bad. You know, if somebody hurts somebody's child may want to. They want to kill that person. Their motivation, you know that. That's their motivation. But it's bad. But it's their motivation. Right. And so I don't try to motivate. Instead what I try to do is inspire. And you know, when people say, well, what does that mean? And inspiration is, uh, something that you hear or see that makes you feel. And so I intentionally write these messages on Friday, and it has one purpose to make them feel, to make them feel something, make them feel appreciated, respected, seen, heard, safe. Um, so then then go into the weekend saying, golly, you know, my job is hard, but I love the people I work for. So they come back in Monday morning ready to fight that fight again and get beat up again for the next five days. And then, you know, then I, I give them the Friday's feast again, you know, the following Friday. That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, what, um, what lesson or experience would you share with people beginning their career journey or, uh, maybe 

Ben Johnson

[00.45.44]

 beginning your digital transformation? 

Bill Nye

[00.45.48]

 You know? So for me, um, I'm a veteran. I served the United States Air Force. Um, and so I've got that. I've got the luxury, if you will, the, the, um, you know, the benefit of of being thrown into a world that I knew nothing about thousand miles from home, surrounded by complete strangers. And, um, what I gained from that has helped me tremendously. And that is, I was suddenly exposed to people who were very different from me growing up on a very isolated farm in this in the middle of Ohio. Most of the farms around our farm were Amish, so it was a very, very sheltered, very simple lifestyle. And all of the sudden I'm in San Antonio, Texas, you know, around people whose skin color was completely different from anyone I went to school with. And they spoke languages that, you know, I mean, we were we were as at, as, you know, uh, single as you could be in terms of, you know, the demographics of where I grew up. And so I would I would say that, you know, don't be afraid of, of, you know, reaching out to people who are very different from you. It doesn't mean you have to agree with with them and but learn something from that, you know, seven nights a week, our dinner table was meat, potatoes. And, uh, you know, suddenly I'm stationed in Japan and, uh, you know, there's fish on the table. It's never been cooked. And, you know, every part of me is like, oh, gross, man, some of the best food ever, right? I mean, just like, um, and I, my wife loves sushi, and I joke with her, she's like, why don't you eat sushi with me? I'm like. You know, I was single when I was over there, like, well, you know, I lived in Japan. I'm a sushi snob. You know, this stuff, we haven't this, you know, doesn't cut it. But my point is, don't be afraid of of connecting with people who are very different because those contrasts are some of the greatest learning opportunities, good or bad. But there's some of the greatest learning opportunities. So, so, you know, being willing to explore, learn, learn, you know, learn from anyone that you can. You know, I think that the thing that you learn as you become a CEO is that, um, you know, your peer group, when you first start out your peer groups really big, right? When when you're, you know, when you're working the floor, you know, there are hundreds or thousands in the organization in your level. But as you move up the ladder, uh, your peer group gets smaller and smaller and smaller. And that creates a real challenge in that challenges. Um, you know, Ken Blanchard talks about, you know, being a ring bearer. And, you know, it's important as a CEO that, you know, in our role, people are constantly drawing water from our barrel. And if we're not careful what happens to our barrel that it runs dry. So, you know, when you're when you're starting out, it's easy to find people who can fill your barrel. But as you become, you know, a C-suite executive, it becomes more challenging to find people who can fill your barrel. So find people who will fill your barrel. That's really important. 

Ben Johnson

[00.49.05]

 Yeah. That's cool. Yeah. And, uh, 

Bill Nye

[00.49.07]

 big, uh, I have a 

Ben Johnson

[00.49.09]

 couple mastermind groups that I'm a part of for that very reason. And I think mastermind groups can be a huge asset. Um, cool. Well, if people like what you've had to share today, how should they connect with you? 

Bill Nye

[00.49.22]

 So there's a couple of ways. Um, I actually, you know, in addition to running my own, uh, you know, multifamily company, I also do a lot of, uh, speaking, you know, around the country. So I have a website. It's it's Bill Nye apartment guide. Com got out of play on the, you know, the guy thing, right? When your name is Bill Nye, you're always Bill Nye the Something guy, right? That's so, so so they can find me at, you know, there's no DNA. It's just Bill Nye Apartment guide.com. That's easiest way to find me. Great. 

Ben Johnson

[00.49.52]

 Awesome. We'll make sure to get that in the show notes. And I appreciate you being here with us today. Well, 

Bill Nye

[00.49.57]

 thanks for having me. Is I've I've enjoyed this conversation.