West Point, Pro Baseball, Iraq - Road To Ownership I Schuyler Williamson I AO 20

What do mortgage rates, job security, and building houses have in common? Schuyler Williamson, founder of Mission Homes in Austin, joins JC to break down what’s really keeping people from buying — and why small business ownership might be the antidote to a shaky job market.

In this episode, they cover:

• The myth of “bad timing” when it comes to buying a home
• Why a stable job doesn’t always mean stable income
• How owning your own business gives you more control than any employer ever could
• What Schuyler’s seeing on the ground right now in the housing market

Whether you’re thinking about owning a business or buying your first home, this one’s about taking back your own certainty — instead of waiting for the economy to figure it out for you.

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Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:10:01
Speaker 1
you have to lead yourself first, then you have to lead a team, and then you have to lead a business, and you have to do it in that order. And you can't stop any step.

00:00:10:03 - 00:00:11:22
Speaker 1
Every morning you got to wake up, lead yourself.

00:00:12:00 - 00:00:16:02
Speaker 2
Yeah. You know, like done with this thing. Now you can move on to the next, you know, it's very linear every single day.

00:00:16:02 - 00:00:27:05
Speaker 1
Clock reset. Yeah. Yeah. And the leaders at plateau you know John Maxwell talks about the the law the lid. Right. The leaders that plateau don't wake up every morning lead themselves. Yeah. You got to get better. Every day

00:00:27:05 - 00:00:36:20
Speaker 1
Hard work. Real talk. No shortcuts. I'm Joseph Cabrera. This is American operator.

00:00:36:20 - 00:00:45:05
Speaker 2
All right, team, I'm here with Skyler Williamson. Man, let me just get I'm going to give a quick right one. Good to have you and brother.

00:00:45:06 - 00:00:46:14
Speaker 1
Yeah I'm grateful to be here.

00:00:46:16 - 00:01:05:17
Speaker 2
I mean, look, I mean army guy, former Army guy. Both of us went to West Point. So I think this is probably along some years back. Would probably be connected as. But man, you've had a cool career. I mean, everything from going to the academy and serving, but even having a small a stint in there playing pro baseball, was it Detroit year with Detroit Tigers?

00:01:05:17 - 00:01:25:04
Speaker 2
Man, I mean, it's crazy to think about that. We'll dive into how that all came to be. Yeah. Then after that leaving that and then starting businesses, running them, buying businesses. And what I've always what's interesting, especially in this town, your name, whether you know it or not, man gets, I think, in a really good way. It's kind of a hub name.

00:01:25:04 - 00:01:31:10
Speaker 2
Folks are typically running into. You or working with you, and I think it's because they really enjoy being around you. So, Skyler, man, we're stoked to have you on.

00:01:31:11 - 00:01:33:01
Speaker 1
Yeah, I'm grateful to be here.

00:01:33:03 - 00:01:47:05
Speaker 2
Talk to me about playing some pro ball, man. I mean, we can talk about military stories, but dude, I thought when you went to the Academy, they didn't release you to. Even if you were the most. Even if you go round one, they wouldn't release you. Yeah. If you were an Army jersey during.

00:01:47:06 - 00:01:48:21
Speaker 1
It, was that it? Was that way.

00:01:48:23 - 00:01:51:09
Speaker 2
How do you do that? I mean, what happened there? How did that okay.

00:01:51:09 - 00:02:03:06
Speaker 1
So what's interesting is if we went back to my senior year in high school, I had a decision to make. I could go to a big school and play football, which I love football. Yeah, I loved hitting. Would you play.

00:02:03:06 - 00:02:04:03
Speaker 2
It? Yeah. Would you play?

00:02:04:03 - 00:02:23:09
Speaker 1
Well, I, I was a linebacker, and a running back. I was a, I was in a small school and I was good athlete. Yeah. And I was big for a high school player. So, you know, I was fast, so I was a good football player. I was recruited to play safety. And so I had a big school that offered me the a scholarship to play football.

00:02:23:10 - 00:02:44:11
Speaker 1
Yeah. Or I could go to West Point and, and basically say, well, I'm not going to play any professional sports. And I remember sitting down at the table with my father and, and he basically said, look, you might make it to the NFL. But you've been hurt in high school, you know, and you, you know, there's a chance you'll get hurt in college, too, and you might not make it.

00:02:44:13 - 00:03:07:05
Speaker 1
And we didn't, you know, we didn't make money that college back then, right? Like, we we just played the game, but if you go to West Point, you'll never have to suffer. And and I was hungry. My, my parents had had the three of us. I have two brothers. They had us very young. And, there was always love in my house.

00:03:07:07 - 00:03:25:16
Speaker 1
But, you know, it was humble, right? Like, we we didn't have a whole lot of extra, and and again, I'm very blessed. My parents are still married today. My father showed me how to be a loving man, a good father, a good husband and, hard worker. But, you know, my father worked in the manufacture facility for 40 years and retired.

00:03:25:18 - 00:03:46:08
Speaker 1
Got his pension. Yeah. My mother was, was a nurse for 30 years and retired like my my folks, they they worked their way up and stayed with the same company the whole time. And so they just got what they got, you know, they didn't they didn't go out and and build them out in the cash. And certainly when you're 18 and 20, you don't have a lot of money.

00:03:46:10 - 00:04:04:12
Speaker 1
You know, my dad sweeping floors a manufacturing facility. My mom's a brand new nurse. Yeah. So we didn't we didn't have a lot. Yeah. Real humble and out and but it the gift that it gave me was hunger. And so to get to college, it wasn't going to be a check for my parents. It was going to be either sports or academics.

00:04:04:14 - 00:04:26:00
Speaker 1
Well, I chose sports. And so I, you know, I was the kid that you go to practice and then after practice, I'd go home and run sprints in the street, and then I'd hit off the tee, you know, all hours of the night until I was told to come inside. And so I did that, and I literally manufactured myself into a good athlete.

00:04:26:02 - 00:04:30:06
Speaker 1
All right. Chose West Point because I didn't want to. I didn't want to. I wanted something more. From where.

00:04:30:06 - 00:04:35:16
Speaker 2
At West Point, come up on the radar, because that's the thing that also usually, unless it comes from your family or someone tells you how, you know.

00:04:35:16 - 00:05:02:02
Speaker 1
You had no idea. My my, high school baseball coach said, Skyler, I think you're, an academy guy. He's like, yeah, yeah. I was like, yeah, I had no idea. You know, I had never left Pensacola, Florida until I started taking, recruiting trips to colleges that they paid for, you know? Yeah. And so the first time I ever got on the plane was the on a recruiting trip to West Point.

00:05:02:04 - 00:05:19:04
Speaker 1
Had never been on a plane before. Had no idea what I was getting myself into. Yeah. I didn't have any aspirations of being in the military or anything like that. The only thing that I wanted was a was a better life. Yeah, than what my parents were having. I was going to create something more for myself.

00:05:19:06 - 00:05:37:22
Speaker 1
So, you know, my my coach said, hey, you're an academy guy, you know, because I was, I was I was going to be successful. And I knew how to say, yes, sir. And I knew, you know, I knew all the things. So he helped me apply, and he helped me get a nomination and, all of this stuff.

00:05:37:22 - 00:05:44:10
Speaker 1
And I had had no idea. And it wasn't a big deal to me if they turned me down. Yeah, but they accepted me.

00:05:44:12 - 00:05:53:22
Speaker 2
It's. Yeah, it's. I've always found incredible man. Feel like folks, because, you know, we went to school with guys and gals at like seventh generation. Oh, dad's a general.

00:05:54:04 - 00:05:55:06
Speaker 1
One of their whole life.

00:05:55:06 - 00:06:01:19
Speaker 2
Uncles, a center like everybody knew. And you show up there, it's just rare to me get that population that's like, kind of stumbled onto it.

00:06:01:19 - 00:06:24:20
Speaker 1
Yeah. No, someone came to me with that. And, and so I was one of the guys that didn't get the highest scores. I didn't have straight A's in high school. Yeah. I was a good ballplayer. And so my coach, sent my videos to the football coach and the baseball coach there and said, you need to get this guy in your program.

00:06:24:20 - 00:06:41:22
Speaker 1
And, they use their version of a scholarship, which, you know, the sports teams have, like, picks, right? Yeah. They don't have to spend money on it, but they, you know, they go in front of the admissions board and they say, you know, I've met with this kid, he's academy material and he'll succeed in. So somehow, you know, they they approved me.

00:06:41:22 - 00:07:04:21
Speaker 1
I got into the program and and so I got in. So that was the first thing was I got in the West Point thinking that my professional aspirations were over. I love football. The football coach wasn't as excited about me as the baseball coach at West Point, and I knew I was going to struggle academically. So I was like, man, you know what?

00:07:04:23 - 00:07:20:03
Speaker 1
I'll just go with the baseball team. Yeah, you know, it's all for fun at this point anyways. And I just, I need something extra to to keep me moving. I'll just go with a baseball coach where they want me. I'll start early. You know, the football coaches, we may have a spot for you to walk on.

00:07:20:03 - 00:07:43:05
Speaker 1
I'm like, man, if you just looked at my tape, you would have really wanted me to play. But that's okay. I didn't hit my head, you know? I got to go play baseball. You know, 9/11 happened. I was at school. I was the first class that had the chance to walk away from West Point. So I was a sophomore when, nine, 11 happened.

00:07:43:05 - 00:07:43:22
Speaker 2
Two guys, one.

00:07:44:02 - 00:08:06:01
Speaker 1
And so and so, you know, up until not everybody knows this, but up until sophomore year, you can leave West Point and not go the Army. Any obligation junior year, the day you step in, you owe the Army that. So as a junior at West Point, you owe the Army. If you were to quit or get kicked out, you go into the military because you have an obligation.

00:08:06:03 - 00:08:25:19
Speaker 1
So I'm sitting here as a sophomore now. I know we're at war. I didn't sign up for this Army thing. Yeah. You know, I just signed up for a better life. So I had to do some, like, real soul searching. And, the great thing that West Point does is they teach you to desire to serve, and, and I and I always had a servant heart.

00:08:25:22 - 00:08:46:23
Speaker 1
I was the oldest of two brothers. But I always played team sports. And the way that I led was with that servant heart. You know how who does my team need me to be in this moment so that they can be their best? I always I always lead that way. And, And so I was good. I was a good cadet.

00:08:47:01 - 00:09:08:14
Speaker 1
And, you know, I'm a fit for this. My country needs me now. I might not be the best soldier in the world, but. But, you know, I'm going to be better than most. And so I decided, all right, I'm going to commit to this junior year. I have the most extraordinary year. I break homerun records I like it seemed like every third at bat I hit a home run.

00:09:08:14 - 00:09:31:01
Speaker 1
And if I didn't hit a home run, I stole a base. Yeah. So it was like a it was just an extraordinary you down. I was having a good time and I was the player of the year. You know, I was an academic All-American. I had all these accolades that were really cool. In junior year, when Bob Ross came the coach at West Point, he said, I'd come coach the football team if I can send people to the NFL.

00:09:31:03 - 00:09:56:23
Speaker 1
And so somewhere in the government, there was someone strong enough that could read write the rules. Yeah. And so my junior year, they rewrote the rules that would they could classify West Point cadets, Olympic athletes and send them to the Olympics. But they got also into the NFL, the MLB, you know, all the different sports, right? Yeah. And so just as fortune would have it, my junior year, they changed the rules.

00:09:56:23 - 00:10:06:13
Speaker 1
And yeah, I mean, the very next week they said they change the rules and they announced it the very next week, I had 20 scouts in the stands watching me play.

00:10:06:15 - 00:10:10:03
Speaker 2
So they, you know, they. Because before they stay away, like, what's the point? None of these guys can.

00:10:10:05 - 00:10:19:19
Speaker 1
Yeah. I mean, they play here. There was no reason to come see me. There was no I mean, like, it was cool that my name was like an all the national like rankings, like up there, but there was no reason to come get me because they couldn't have me.

00:10:19:19 - 00:10:20:06
Speaker 2
Army guy.

00:10:20:07 - 00:10:40:09
Speaker 1
Yeah. Now, if I could have gone like some of these guys and leave as a junior out of college, I'd have had a huge signing bonus. I'd have been the best catcher at that time or whatever. But but West Point that unless you graduate early. Yeah. So I had to go senior year. I almost set a record by getting hit by pitch my senior year, so they didn't pitch to me at all.

00:10:40:11 - 00:11:01:08
Speaker 1
Okay, I think I got hit. I mean, dozens of times, I stole more bases because, yeah, I didn't take the trot around the base, that much. But my, my season looked very different because I just didn't have enough time to swing the bat. Yeah, but but I did well enough to get drafted and and, went into the pros and, I mean, the pros.

00:11:01:13 - 00:11:19:18
Speaker 1
It was a dream come true. You know what? You don't know as a young guy, before you get into the, into the pros, is it is a real business. It's it is a bit of a game. They want you to feel like it's a game because they want you to enjoy what you do. Kind of like you.

00:11:19:22 - 00:11:38:07
Speaker 1
We want our teams to enjoy what they do. Yeah, right. So they want you to enjoy it. But I remember, you know, I moved through a couple of different teams because I got promoted while I was there. But, you know, most of the team doesn't speak English. You know, the guys that did speak English, they were a lot younger than me because I graduated.

00:11:38:07 - 00:11:48:22
Speaker 1
You know, I was a as a senior, you know, these guys straight out. Yeah. All these guys are at a high school, and. And you just think differently, right? Like, our college experience is very different than everybody else's. Yeah. And.

00:11:48:22 - 00:12:02:13
Speaker 2
I kind of like, called the ten year, whatever, up camp, basically, like, there's a ten year seasoning. Yeah. 23 year old West Point grad. Like a 30 year old.

00:12:02:14 - 00:12:22:18
Speaker 1
That's right. Well, because because at the school, they somehow in their formula, they teach you that your life isn't about you. And you think about all the normal college kids and their experience, their whole college experience. It's just about them. It's the first time they get to make all the decisions that they want, and it's just about them.

00:12:22:19 - 00:12:40:18
Speaker 1
Yeah. And so they they graduate college and their life is just about them. We graduate college and our lives about our country, our lives, about our soldiers. You know, it isn't about us. And we just we walk out as 23 year olds thinking that way. Yeah. And that's why we don't act like 23 year olds much, much less 18 year olds.

00:12:40:18 - 00:12:53:23
Speaker 1
I mean, we are 18 year olds on our team that they could throw the ball 100 miles an hour, but they were they were just kids. And so I relate it to nobody. I mean, they call me the general. They're I mean, they love me. So Detroit, the coaches love me.

00:12:54:01 - 00:12:56:23
Speaker 2
Yeah. Because you got some team leadership. Oh, you got some leadership.

00:12:56:23 - 00:12:59:02
Speaker 1
You got got a guy out here setting the standard.

00:12:59:02 - 00:13:03:11
Speaker 2
Maybe not going to go run around and get stupid on the weekends trying to show up for the game.

00:13:03:12 - 00:13:19:20
Speaker 1
Yeah, I had money in my pocket because I didn't spend it on, you know, and I didn't. I mean, there's lots of stories we can go down that route, but but one of the things like. So I'd workout, then we would practice. Yeah. And then when everybody got on the bus to go up the hill, it was like a three mile ride uphill back to the barracks.

00:13:19:20 - 00:13:33:16
Speaker 1
Yeah. Or the apartments, you know, whatever you want to call it. Right. And I just said, like, I'll meet you up there. And so I would run up the hill because I didn't want to lose, you know, in the Army, you got to have that endurance to be able to pick up and run, you know, for a long distance.

00:13:33:21 - 00:13:41:11
Speaker 1
And I didn't want to lose that. And so I would run at the end of every day, I would run up the hill. Why everybody else took the bus. And they just thought that was the craziest thing.

00:13:41:13 - 00:13:45:21
Speaker 2
Man. Yeah. And that's, And you were like, you're still a commission at this point.

00:13:45:22 - 00:13:51:08
Speaker 1
Yeah, I was an officer. I was an Olympic athlete and a second lieutenant. Yes. So good man, isn't that?

00:13:51:08 - 00:13:52:09
Speaker 2
Well, it's wild man.

00:13:52:09 - 00:14:01:05
Speaker 1
So I had to recruit, like. And then the downtime I had to, like, get on the phone and be with these radio folks and just recruit for the military. That was my job was to recruit.

00:14:01:07 - 00:14:06:02
Speaker 2
Like the old school, go sell some war bonds, you know, kind of thing, right? Yeah. Now, I mean, that's awesome.

00:14:06:02 - 00:14:06:14
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:14:06:16 - 00:14:10:22
Speaker 2
How long did that go for? How long did you go before you let the Army go? Okay, we need you back.

00:14:11:00 - 00:14:30:05
Speaker 1
Well, it's funny. It was my decision. So the season ended, and they called me, and they said, hey, we want you to come back to spring. You know, spring training with a big league team. You know, I went Pudge Rodriguez was a catcher at the time. I wasn't going to be, you know, going to be the big league catcher.

00:14:30:10 - 00:14:56:13
Speaker 1
But they wanted me to come back, probably probably for leadership just to be around the older guys and, and just mature, and, and I was excited about it. And then I was with my wife back then, and I remember a sit down and, just my, my younger brother deployed as an enlisted guy. Right? He fought in the battle for Fallujah, which, you know, your older folks probably understand like that.

00:14:56:13 - 00:15:16:12
Speaker 1
That's, that was a very nasty fight for our soldiers there. And my brother was a part of that. And he had extreme PTSD when he came back. And, he had terrible stories about his leadership. And I sat with that. And then all my buddies from West Point were overseas. You know, I, I just it wasn't guilt.

00:15:16:14 - 00:15:37:12
Speaker 1
I didn't feel guilty about the decision I made, but that that servant heart just it just started beating real hard. And, and I remember telling my wife we were just, we were 23 years old. Was that Christian? I think I got to go in the army. And you know, what's while she was like, I think you're right.

00:15:37:17 - 00:15:44:04
Speaker 1
Oh, really? Yeah. She's like, I think you're right. Look, if she had a chance to make that decision all over again, she should know. You're crazy.

00:15:44:04 - 00:15:46:02
Speaker 2
You're crazy. Just because they get that cost.

00:15:46:05 - 00:16:06:20
Speaker 1
Because I'm about to not see you for basically six years. I mean, that that's that was the result of that. You know, I got everything I asked for, so I did the Ranger, the airborne. I went to Iraq and Afghanistan. I, you know, pulled a trigger and I got blown. I mean, I had every experience that, that a soldier in combat could experience.

00:16:06:21 - 00:16:32:19
Speaker 1
You know, I think I led my men. Well, I certainly think we we made a change, you know, and, And I feel good about that. That's why I can talk about it. Do not focus on all the injuries and the the folks that lost their lives. But, yeah, we, I chose I called Detroit, and I told them like, hey, guys, you know, I'm just I'm so grateful for for you guys actually giving me a chance to live my dream.

00:16:32:21 - 00:16:54:23
Speaker 1
But I but I have to go back into the military, and this is at the same time Tillman was doing his deal. Oh. Yeah, and he didn't. He didn't influence. My brother influenced me. Yeah, his experience influenced me, but. But I think Tillman being an example of how someone should step up. That helped. It certainly helped.

00:16:54:23 - 00:16:59:10
Speaker 1
I was like, man, it's not that crazy like other people are. Making that decision.

00:16:59:10 - 00:17:01:21
Speaker 2
Gives you the extra rocket boost, little momentum into it. Yeah.

00:17:01:21 - 00:17:24:00
Speaker 1
Yeah. I mean, and that's, you know, pray that you can be an example like that for others. Yeah. You know, he he had no idea that I was looking up to him at that time. And yet I was yeah. You know, and, and and I don't know if I saved anybody life, you know, like, I actually, I probably did, but I didn't know when I was making that decision that I was going to save lives.

00:17:24:02 - 00:17:31:22
Speaker 1
And, I just knew I just been on the inside. I knew it was the right thing to do. Yeah, so I did. So I walked away from Detroit. They didn't walk away from me in that.

00:17:32:00 - 00:17:32:22
Speaker 2
I'll get on you, man.

00:17:32:22 - 00:17:46:12
Speaker 1
They would they would have cut the they would have had that cut a check for $80,000 to buy my, buy my freedom to buy my, to buy my obligation back from West Point. Yeah. And they, they just they just said when, you know, like you tell us when you're. Oh, they.

00:17:46:12 - 00:17:50:08
Speaker 2
Were on board to do it all. Oh get this, get on him. Yeah. And pay you to come.

00:17:50:08 - 00:18:04:03
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah. They, they had three years to write that check. Yeah. Before the Army like, pulled me back. And they, you know, it was just like, let's see if you stay healthy. That was basically it. Let's see if you stay healthy to the end. But we'll you know, we certainly want you on our team.

00:18:04:03 - 00:18:27:21
Speaker 2
Wow, man. So you get back in good. Do your time overseas. What it's a I know it's a big question. I think you've already alluded to it. But if you think about like who you are today. Yeah. What are some of the things that you feel like your military experience, especially in a time of war? Yeah. You know, either talk to you about yourself or the way that you kind of continue to do this thing we call business now.

00:18:27:22 - 00:18:30:17
Speaker 1
Yeah, well, I wrote a book about it.

00:18:30:17 - 00:18:32:17
Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah. Which, by the way, we'll talk about it.

00:18:32:17 - 00:19:03:10
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, at its most basic level, I learned that you have to lead yourself every day first, or else you won't stay healthy enough to lead your team. And then you have to lead your team before you worry about leading your whole organization. Right. And so if we, if we just talk about it from a military standpoint, you know, I was an infantry guy in the most most of my soldiers are infantry guys.

00:19:03:11 - 00:19:25:09
Speaker 1
But I had to wake up every day in a very stressful environment. And I had to be ready to go fight, you know, risk my life. Risk my life for another person, for a cause, risk my life every day. I had to get myself in the right mindset every day to go do that and do it passionately and willingly.

00:19:25:11 - 00:19:46:11
Speaker 1
Then I had a team of of senior enlisted guys, right? That I had to lead them so that they could lead their teams, right? I didn't I didn't go out and start leading my whole organization. I led my team. So I led intentionally through people so that when I go to look at and leading my organization, you know, I had some help along the way.

00:19:46:12 - 00:19:50:23
Speaker 1
I had some other leaders helping me do this thing. And so I think

00:19:50:23 - 00:20:05:21
Speaker 1
in the military, specifically in combat, it was drilled into me that you have to lead yourself first, then you have to lead a team, and then you have to lead a business, and you have to do it in that order. And you can't stop any step.

00:20:05:23 - 00:20:07:18
Speaker 1
Every morning you got to wake up, lead yourself.

00:20:07:20 - 00:20:11:22
Speaker 2
Yeah. You know, like done with this thing. Now you can move on to the next, you know, it's very linear every single day.

00:20:11:22 - 00:20:31:23
Speaker 1
Clock reset. Yeah. Yeah. And the leaders at plateau you know John Maxwell talks about the the law the lid. Right. The leaders that plateau don't wake up every morning lead themselves. Yeah. You got to get better. Every day or two you will climax in. Some of us have more talent than others. But there's going to be a point where you stop, right?

00:20:32:00 - 00:20:33:23
Speaker 1
Talent's only going to take you so far,

00:20:33:23 - 00:20:40:13
Speaker 1
and then you got to do a little bit extra and that that's leading, right? Like you lead yourself to the next step and

00:20:40:15 - 00:20:51:17
Speaker 2
That leading yourself step. What's the what's the kind of stuff that you think about even today that you're like, these are my daily my self leadership type things, things that you work on yourself or things that you hold yourself accountable to.

00:20:51:21 - 00:21:10:14
Speaker 1
Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, first I have a vision for my life and and, you know, I have a purpose for my life. And I think a lot of people that aren't willing to put in the work to lead themselves, they're missing those pieces. They don't have a reason to get up out of bed early. And and even if they had a reason to get up out of bed early, they don't have a vision for why they're doing it.

00:21:10:16 - 00:21:27:06
Speaker 1
Yeah, you know, and how it's going to look when it's done. Well. And, and so I think that those two things are really big, you know, having a purpose for your life and having a vision for what it looks like. And then, you know, I focus on my energy. You know, we call it combat ready in the military.

00:21:27:07 - 00:21:46:02
Speaker 1
Yeah. Right. Like, and so just to define that for the folks that don't have a military background, being combat ready is if you were to receive a mission, you're ready to go. Go out like right away. Right. There's not this big mobilization period. And so for me, being combat ready in business as a leader is just making sure that you're healthy.

00:21:46:02 - 00:22:06:21
Speaker 1
And to be healthy, you got to be healthy mentally, physically and spiritually. And so mentally, the way that I think about it is you have a growth mindset, not not the, you know, the kind of psychiatric definition, but do you have a growth mindset? And are you feeding that every day? So every single morning I'm, I'm reading someone else's business book.

00:22:06:21 - 00:22:31:13
Speaker 1
I don't read nonfiction or I don't read fiction. I read nonfiction every morning. And I'm trying to solve problems in my business through other people's wins, their models, their successes. Can I kind of pull from them something that is going to help me solve this problem in my business, so I can go to the next step? So that's that growth mindset physically, your your body's either going to be an asset or it's going to be a liability.

00:22:31:17 - 00:22:49:19
Speaker 1
Right. When you wake up in the morning, is your body telling you what to do? Like, oh man, you got ten more minutes. Go ahead. Snooze like you're tired. You deserve it. Right? Or are you able to wake up in the morning and be like, get up, you know, go get dressed. Oh, by the way, you're going to work out.

00:22:49:23 - 00:23:13:05
Speaker 1
Yeah. And I love physical resistance exercise because some of that growth mindset and that that mental adversity, you know that you can overcome, you can manufacture it when you're working out. It's it's really hard to manufacture that in any other part in your life. Healthy. Right. Like there's some cold plunges and some stuff like that that people I think are geniuses and kind of manufacturing it.

00:23:13:07 - 00:23:32:09
Speaker 1
But like, there's a reason why you do that mentally is because, you know, when you when you can overcome that adversity, you're just that much stronger. Right? But yeah, you, you you've got to have energy, physical energy to be able to go be a great leader for 9 hours or 8 hours, you know, whatever your workday looks like.

00:23:32:09 - 00:23:49:01
Speaker 1
And you owe it to your team to be that, plus, when you don't exercise, your body stress can live in it. And so, yeah, I, I it's funny, I went on all these patrols when I was overseas, but we used to work out too. Yeah. Because it helped us like get that stress out of our body and like help us sleep.

00:23:49:01 - 00:24:09:17
Speaker 1
I mean, otherwise we wouldn't sleep. And then spiritually, you know, the easiest way that I can define spiritual health is when you wake up in the morning, do you think about what you're going to get, or do you wake up and think about what you're going to give the world? And to the extent that you wake up and you think about what you're going to give the world, that's how healthy you are spiritually.

00:24:09:18 - 00:24:19:18
Speaker 1
And so when you when you figure out your life isn't about you, that it's about everyone else that you're going to connect with in a day like that's that's when you're spiritually dialed in.

00:24:19:20 - 00:24:43:16
Speaker 2
How do you learn all that? Was that like, I don't remember that class at West Point, but I, I imagine through some survival one is around 101. There's definitely a lot of like I mean, the lab in which the experience, the experiment which is West Point I think does help. But I do think like where do you feel like you started to really kind of galvanizes pillars and go, okay, that's a great framework to live by.

00:24:43:18 - 00:24:48:01
Speaker 1
Yeah. I mean.

00:24:48:02 - 00:25:09:18
Speaker 1
I've, I've been a really thoughtful person most of my life. And I think that comes back to playing sports, you know, not my wife and I, you know, we talk, we have two children, and they're both in sports, and they get a choice what sport they're in, but they don't get a choice whether they play a sport or not.

00:25:09:20 - 00:25:38:06
Speaker 1
Like I, you know, dad, dad insists. Right. And it's because when you understand the value of a coach, when you, when you can be trained, when you can take instruction, improve yourself, there's there's something that's going to click in your brain that that starts to think like, okay, well there's this iterative, iterative process of I just did something, I was either successful or not.

00:25:38:06 - 00:25:57:09
Speaker 1
So I measured it. And then what can I learn from it? And so I've always been really good at saying, okay, well, the coach is giving me information, I'm going to go try it, fail or succeed at learn. And then why, you know, so that I can rebuild and get going. In the book The Lean Startup, they talk about the build, measure and learn loop and, and that's it.

00:25:57:09 - 00:26:23:01
Speaker 1
Right? I brought that into my business. But that having experience and then taking away what you can out of it, just in thinking, okay, like, everybody calls me a great leader. They have no idea how I lead oversee this. Back when I was younger. Right. And I was this combat veteran and had all these young friends, they're like, oh, man, you're such great leader.

00:26:23:03 - 00:26:44:06
Speaker 1
Whoa. Why were they saying that? What was I doing that they weren't doing or hadn't learned yet? Right. Because they don't teach you this stuff in school. Yeah. Well, I spent time reflecting on that, and, and that's I was building the models in my head that made me successful, and so. Okay, well, I, a model is easy to teach.

00:26:44:08 - 00:27:01:09
Speaker 1
So I was, I was always just taking it and building the model and then teaching it, to people. Yeah. And, so just the thought process of that model and what made me successful, I've done that from a young age and military just help me speed it up, because it was the most chaotic environment that you can lead in.

00:27:01:11 - 00:27:11:05
Speaker 1
And so we sharpened our leadership skills under the most extreme circumstances you can have. And, yeah, you had to have great models or else you lost your life or you lost a soldier's life.

00:27:11:05 - 00:27:43:10
Speaker 2
That's right. Mean there's some basic despair as you're saying it. It got me thinking. I wonder if this resonates or not with you. I think in a time of war, there's this interesting. It's almost like a 1 to 10 rule for every day. It's like, feels like ten days. It's like, not so much. I mean, the the principles of war and putting yourself through that or being a part of that situation definitely brings a level of input that a normal life is not necessarily going to give you, but what it also does it it really packs it feels like a year overseas is like a it's like a decade lived.

00:27:43:12 - 00:28:03:17
Speaker 2
Yeah. You know, we're like, someone might lose someone special to them over ten years. One person. Yeah. You lose folks every single month out there right into your expedited in kind of what those feelings and those experiences are in a short amount of time. It's I think the thing that isn't talked about, does that resonate with you that like a war has got a way to pack in a lot of life and a little bit of time?

00:28:03:18 - 00:28:27:02
Speaker 1
Yeah, I mean, I so packs in a ton of experience. It packs in a ton of perspective. Right? Like on you, it'd be hard for you to go find someone that's more grateful for their life in me. Like, I literally think, like, I walk this earth thinking, okay, there's something that God has me here to do because I should have lost my life so many times.

00:28:27:02 - 00:28:49:22
Speaker 1
Yeah. But but I'm here, so there must be a reason for that. And, you know, now I got these kids and I got this wife that loves me, and I got these businesses. And I'm just so grateful. And my gratitude is through the roof because I've seen these things that really no human being should see. But if you got to, it's like.

00:28:50:03 - 00:29:27:13
Speaker 1
It's like having an encounter with cancer. Yeah. Like, man, when you when you have an encounter with your mortality and then you get another chance to live, you just, you just approach things differently. So I think those two things, but then also the amount of energy that you and I spent thinking during that time of our life, if, if you can be thoughtful as a leader and actually respond to things instead of react, you're going to be so much better than just the average person, because most of this world just goes about their life and just reacts.

00:29:27:14 - 00:29:37:06
Speaker 1
And some of us are again, is talent, right? Some of us are super talented at reacting really well. Yeah, most of us aren't great at reacting.

00:29:37:08 - 00:29:39:19
Speaker 2
Usually comes across emotional or off and.

00:29:39:19 - 00:30:05:17
Speaker 1
Yeah, or you just missed the target. Yeah. I mean, we're just like, some of us just aren't as smart. Now, if I have enough time to be thoughtful and respond, okay, I got I got a fighting chance here. And I think combat taught us that. Hey, you actually have more time than you think to do these things. And, most of these deadlines, people stress out about our self-imposed right, like, they they put their own deadline.

00:30:05:19 - 00:30:41:16
Speaker 1
They actually have more time to think. And if you just slow things down, right. The first paragraph and our mission planning was situation, if you just slow down and spend some time thinking about the situation we're in, then go do your plan. I mean, success goes up, your chance of success goes up is it's because you're thoughtful. And so I think those three things I think what you said the, the the experiences and the perspective, but then adding that piece of like literally we have phones, we didn't have computers, we didn't have TV, we didn't we didn't carry books that weighed you down.

00:30:41:18 - 00:31:02:03
Speaker 1
We sat and we thought and we thought and we thought, I mean, aren't we spent years overseas thinking and, yeah. When you when you turn into a professional thinker, I mean successful you probability success goes up, right? Yeah. It's and that's what I mean. We took that away at a young age and that's that's brilliant. Right. Like we got it young.

00:31:02:03 - 00:31:04:02
Speaker 1
So we have all this time to go practice it.

00:31:04:06 - 00:31:25:13
Speaker 2
Yeah. And there's there's a part, that I think about often is the, it's a very it's a, it's a non-human reaction to think about, a teammate getting, let's say, wounded or shot out there in the field. You're, if I was here in this world, didn't have any military experience or any leadership experience, you would run to that person or the service they teach you.

00:31:25:14 - 00:31:32:16
Speaker 2
You don't do that right, even if you want to. Yeah, right. You actually had to fight every urge to do something that's naturally human.

00:31:32:16 - 00:31:33:06
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:31:33:08 - 00:31:42:14
Speaker 2
Because you have to. Okay. Where'd that come from? Yeah. Am I going to put more folks at risk trying to figure out how to say this one live? It's very inhuman, actually, when you think about it. But it does get you to kind of slow down a little bit.

00:31:42:19 - 00:31:46:11
Speaker 1
Well, think and we have somebody on the team that that's their job to go check on that person.

00:31:46:11 - 00:31:47:10
Speaker 2
That's right doc.

00:31:47:10 - 00:32:02:12
Speaker 1
Yeah. What's what's your job? Your job is command and control as a leader. What's his job. His job security. What's his person? There's the medic. His job is to go there and oh, by the way, who's running over there? Well, he's doing he's doing his job. So are you going to do yours? Are you going to go try to do his.

00:32:02:14 - 00:32:25:07
Speaker 2
It's such an interesting I think about, I think about the service and how also there was a especially as an officer there was always this in the private sector. I see where this stuff kind of gets a little bit gray, where they were very, if you remember, like at the Academy, they always were very and even in the service, they're very, very, senior leaders were, were very intentional about fraternization.

00:32:25:08 - 00:32:46:08
Speaker 2
Yeah. I don't just become buddies with your guys. Yeah. And it wasn't out of like a they versus us. It was more like, I need you to be able to make good decisions. Yeah. And when someone becomes your friend, friend is really hard to make good decisions as a leader. Yeah. Because what you should be doing is sending doc out there after it's secure, not going out there and helping your poker buddy out of the out of the fray and putting everybody else risk.

00:32:46:09 - 00:32:56:23
Speaker 2
Yeah. How do you balance that now? Like even in the private sector where those that rank structure kind of doesn't exist anymore, how do you keep that professionalism so you can make good decisions as a leader.

00:32:57:03 - 00:33:28:03
Speaker 1
Yeah. Well I think I think first you got to give yourself some grace to say like, hey, you know, it's okay to love everyone, right? Like, I loved all my soldiers. I love all my people. Now. But then you also have to do your job, which I happen to be the leader of my organization. And so my my response ability for their families is to make sure that that organization thrives because of the organization doesn't thrive.

00:33:28:03 - 00:33:47:14
Speaker 1
No one and no one's family thrives. And so they all my people know I love them, even the ones that I've asked to leave our company. I think if you were to ask them, like, did he love you? I think they would say yes. Not I'm not perfect. You know, I make every decision perfectly and and I don't treat everybody perfectly all the time.

00:33:47:14 - 00:34:12:18
Speaker 1
You know, I'm human. I'm flawed like everybody else on this planet. But I love them. And so when you love someone, but then you just do your job. Well, there's there's forgiveness or there's grace, and, and you have to do it to yourself first. Right? But I, I, I think the people that it's hardest for are the ones that are relational, driven.

00:34:12:23 - 00:34:27:05
Speaker 1
Right? Like some of us wake up in the morning and they think about the things they're going to get done. And some of us wake up in the morning, think about who they're going to get to see and do those things with. Right. And so we're just wired differently. It's harder for the people that wake up and think, man, I'm going to get to see all these people today.

00:34:27:07 - 00:34:55:16
Speaker 1
It's harder for them because it isn't about the task to them. It's about doing the task with other people and that's what really turns them on. I'm more of a task oriented guy, so this is easier for me to do. But I think you got to give yourself grace. And then I think you just kind of say, like, look, in doing my job really well and doing taking care of my responsibility really well actually helps everyone.

00:34:55:18 - 00:35:16:18
Speaker 1
Even even when you ask someone to leave the organization, which is the biggest thing you can do, right? You like to let them go. You're actually letting them free so that they can go do something they're going to thrive at, because what they're doing right now, they're not succeeding. And that's a painful spot to be, to be in life, doing something professionally and not succeeding.

00:35:16:22 - 00:35:32:13
Speaker 1
That's not that's not that's not a way to live. Yeah. To disappoint yourself every day. Like that's not a way to live. Go to something that you're great at and that you care a ton about. You're motivated, like go do that. And so even when you're letting someone go, you know, you you're giving them freedom to go do something.

00:35:32:13 - 00:35:53:01
Speaker 1
They're really going to excel at. You know, everybody needs to be coached. So, you know, there's accountability for a reason, right? And, and when you chose to come work for me, I tell them I'm not interested in average, right. We're going to be all stars. We're going to be championship team. We're not going to be an average team.

00:35:53:03 - 00:36:13:02
Speaker 1
And so what I'm going to ask, and this is my expectation is I'm going to ask you to be a championship player, my championship teammate. Right. And and so there's a certain level of effort and care that I expect to see. And, you know, if you don't do that, I pointed out. Yeah, I pointed out like on the way.

00:36:13:02 - 00:36:29:02
Speaker 1
So that's a small thing. I just say, hey, look, you know, we need to do better than that, right? Like, you know, the standard. Okay. Let's it's standard. It never turns into a big deal. But, yeah, I point out the standard, you know, and, and they have the freedom to call me out to, like, if I don't hit the standard.

00:36:29:04 - 00:36:38:01
Speaker 1
Then they can call me out, too. You know, I, we have opportunities to do that, that I think they feel safe, and and they can call me out, too.

00:36:38:03 - 00:36:46:17
Speaker 2
Yeah. It's just a healthy relationship to have. It does. It's. It's a lot of art, and there's science in there, but it's also a lot of art. Yeah. Get. So you get out of the service.

00:36:46:17 - 00:36:47:07
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:36:47:09 - 00:37:03:02
Speaker 2
And you immediately go on getting into business. Like, you know, you get everything from real estate and home building and laundromats, man. You got, you know, who knows what else is scholar working on there, right? You got your own minor league team coming into play? I'm just curious. Like where? Like, how did that jump happen?

00:37:03:04 - 00:37:07:21
Speaker 1
Well, man, you know, what's interesting is I tried to go work for somebody.

00:37:07:23 - 00:37:09:00
Speaker 2
Okay. How'd that go?

00:37:09:00 - 00:37:30:17
Speaker 1
It. It was disappointing. I got some good guidance from a mentor of mine that said, go choose the person. Don't choose the job or, you know, don't choose the company or the industry. Choose the person. So because you go work for the right person, then they're going to turn you into something special. And and you just happened to be in that industry.

00:37:30:17 - 00:37:55:18
Speaker 1
But like, they'll make you a great professional and, and so when I went on all these interviews, yeah, I just, I met these folks who would be my leader. I mean, I'm a good soldier. Like, I'll say yes, sir, and I'll, you know, I'll move out. But it was just discouraging. And this is the first time, professionally, that I had the chance to say who I was going to work for up until then, military said, you go, here's that person.

00:37:55:18 - 00:38:09:01
Speaker 1
Yeah. And so I had a chance to say it, you know, I went on all these interviews and, I just didn't feel good about any of them. And I start to feel a little hopeless, honestly.

00:38:09:03 - 00:38:12:17
Speaker 2
That you were looking to kind of be inspired by this person you're sitting across from.

00:38:12:18 - 00:38:29:23
Speaker 1
Yeah, I, I, I was looking you know, how, like, when a general walks in the room, you just feel the power. They don't. You have to say anything. They don't do anything. They walk in the room and you're like, somebody showed up. Yeah, yeah. Some I. I don't know what they do. I don't know how they do it, but they do whatever they're doing.

00:38:29:23 - 00:38:34:16
Speaker 2
Yeah. You don't even need to see the stars. That's right. Right. They just they have that kind of well gravity.

00:38:34:16 - 00:38:52:00
Speaker 1
These guys that are leading big businesses I mean these CEOs for these big companies, they just walk in the room and like, you know, you know, there's somebody you don't know who they are, but you know, they're somebody and they they just they have that. And I wanted I wanted a feeling like that. I wanted to go work for somebody that gave me that feeling.

00:38:52:02 - 00:39:21:07
Speaker 1
And, I ended up going to get my MBA, McCombs here in town, to essentially buy myself some time. And I, I got recruited out of the MBA program to, Keller Williams, their corporate office, and finally met somebody that was like, oh, she's a general. Yeah. I mean, she had power. She had she she just I, I knew she was doing it, and I just let her do it like she was.

00:39:21:12 - 00:39:48:16
Speaker 1
You using my own behavioral profile to motivate me. She was challenging me and, like, all this stuff in the interview, and I was like, man, you are. You were awesome. And we got all the way to the end for the offer. And her offer was half of what everybody else was offering me, and I took it. Wow. And she as she said she and to her credit, she said, if you do what you say you can do, I'll make a whole year or two.

00:39:48:18 - 00:40:05:22
Speaker 1
And when my first year annual came, she more she tripled my my income. Wow. That after an annual and and so she she she delivered, I delivered I did what I said I was going to do and she delivered. She gave me three times to pay. They got me back to where I needed to be in.

00:40:06:00 - 00:40:27:20
Speaker 1
She she was awesome. And for five years, you know, there at Keller Williams, I learn business, I learn how to be entrepreneurs because we were teaching entrepreneurs, agents. You know, real estate agents are entrepreneurs. And that went really well. I had to get license. I was on the executive team and all all the executives there at the time I was there had to be licensed.

00:40:27:22 - 00:40:51:11
Speaker 1
You need to be like an agent, right? Yeah. Agent led, and I was good until the leadership transition. And, you know, we I didn't identify with those leaders anymore. The new president and CEO. So they switched the president and CEO at the same time. And the new folks that came in, they weren't those generals that I wanted anymore.

00:40:51:13 - 00:41:13:17
Speaker 1
Yeah. So I remember I had, you know, I had a little bit of an encounter with the president of the company there at the time. And, I came home on a Friday and I was talking to my wife about it. She said, well, just leave. We have kids then. So it was a little bit easier, right? Like if we had to live underneath a bridge, we would just hold each other a little tighter, you know?

00:41:13:19 - 00:41:28:09
Speaker 1
And, she's like, just leave, you know, like, you can at least be a real estate agent. You got your license, you know, you know, like how these agents are running their business and all this stuff. And, I said, okay, lead. And, and that was the launch of our real estate business.

00:41:28:11 - 00:41:47:09
Speaker 2
So you you left saying you knew two things. So leaving X, let me go with this one first. Yeah. It seems like a long way. Your wife's had a lot of confidence in you. I mean, I don't know that that's an initial reaction for most folks. It's usually a little more survivalist. Where really, what are we going to do?

00:41:47:11 - 00:41:57:00
Speaker 2
You know, or something like that. Yeah. Where does that come from? Is that early on y'all just had a combo and or what was that what attracted, you know, you to her. What was the whole.

00:41:57:01 - 00:42:17:08
Speaker 1
Well, I mean, she's pretty good looking. So I think that's what attracted me originally. I think we were and we were friends. I mean, like, you know, like she's awesome. She she has so many qualities now, you know, out of college, she got her CPA while she was in college and then was recruited by Deloitte and Touche and had a great paying job right out of college.

00:42:17:08 - 00:42:26:04
Speaker 1
Yeah. And so the one thing that Chris and I did, and we got married right after baseball. So I played that season, we got married. And, you know, we got married 23 years old.

00:42:26:05 - 00:42:26:20
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:42:26:22 - 00:42:48:23
Speaker 1
And, we never spent a dollar I made. We always just lived on hers. And we lived a great life on her income. But every dollar that I ever made in the military, at baseball and then there at Keller Williams, it all, it all went into the bank, and we didn't know how to invest it back then.

00:42:49:04 - 00:43:07:16
Speaker 1
Yeah, but we had cash. But y'all knew we had cash, right? And so you take you take the blessing of us saving and having cash in the bank. And then you couple that with both of our track records, like she was going to be successful. I was going to be successful. Like we had a track record of it.

00:43:07:18 - 00:43:24:01
Speaker 1
We do what we say we're going to do and we'll do it. You know, first class, you know, she was just betting on me as a great employee. Yeah, like, yeah, she's a leader. She's like, is there a player here? Yeah. I'm gonna double down my bet on him.

00:43:24:07 - 00:43:28:01
Speaker 2
Yeah. Her whole thought process, it sounds like, hey, wherever he's going to end up he's going to do fine.

00:43:28:01 - 00:43:28:21
Speaker 1
Yeah, he's going to do just fine.

00:43:28:21 - 00:43:36:07
Speaker 2
And if anything stay in somewhere that's going to be a B-plus version of Skyler is actually not a great thing. Not a great move.

00:43:36:08 - 00:43:57:08
Speaker 1
Yeah. Well, and we and we looked at I mean, we did some math. I mean, we listened. We're very again we're thoughtful. Yeah. We did some math for me to replace my income. I had to do, like 18 transactions my first year, at the, at the average Austin real estate price. Okay. And, and I did 23 that first year.

00:43:57:10 - 00:44:16:05
Speaker 1
And so we were like, well, maybe you won't do 18, but I bet you get pretty close. Yeah. Like you're going to do some. Right. And we and we got this cash to live on. Actually, we weren't living on the cash. We were living on our paycheck. Yeah. So we got. You got your income to live on. You know, just try to do try to do 18.

00:44:16:07 - 00:44:30:12
Speaker 1
Yeah. Just get after it. Yeah. And it took a while to get the first couple, but then, you know, then then it happened. Right. And so yeah, I think when you're going to go start a business, you got you, you got to have that runway of cash. You got to know your numbers like you do the math.

00:44:30:12 - 00:44:43:18
Speaker 1
It's a business work like people is going to start a business. But they didn't, like, do the math to see, like, hey, is this actually a big enough opportunity for me if I scale it and I put all this time and effort into it and it's maturity, does this thing work?

00:44:43:20 - 00:44:44:14
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:44:44:16 - 00:45:06:10
Speaker 1
And, and will it fuel the lifestyle that I want. Yeah. Some people don't get there. Right. Like I can only imagine, you know, if you're, if you're selling, ice cream cones out of a trailer, well, you're going to sell out at some point. So there's a cap to how much you can sell out of that trailer, you know, on a daily or weekly basis.

00:45:06:10 - 00:45:16:09
Speaker 1
Right? So that that income is it's capped at some point unless you buy a second trailer. And so I think you just got to do the numbers and just understand what you're buying into.

00:45:16:11 - 00:45:35:19
Speaker 2
It's the numbers like it's on both sides. The business side. And then what I hear you saying is also on the, what I call your your personal picks. Yeah. Yeah. Like a lot of folks don't when they go pursue something new, especially a new venture being an entrepreneur, a lot of times what didn't change is their, their, lifestyle.

00:45:36:01 - 00:45:49:17
Speaker 2
Yeah. And you go, oh, man, you might need to kind of, you know, moving to a cheaper place, get rid of a car. You know, whatever. It might be temporary. It's temporary. Does that temporary pain. Yeah. Right. Or whatever you want to call that to kind of get you there? Well.

00:45:49:17 - 00:46:08:04
Speaker 1
And and how long can you do it? Like. Right. You know, we're building these beautiful houses here in Austin, Texas, you know, big, big houses, right? Because, you know, the bigger they are, the more profits you can get. I live in a 20 500 square foot house that, you know, it's dated. I mean, in many places in our house is dated.

00:46:08:04 - 00:46:25:23
Speaker 1
So we got some updated prices. Yeah, but like, our kids bathrooms, they're like, you know, we got the seashell tile in there, you know, like, we got we got the goods, you know. Yeah. Blow anybody's hair back and, but, you know, like, christen that and ask me for a new house all the time. She knows what we're doing.

00:46:26:01 - 00:46:33:23
Speaker 1
Yeah. And, you know, we went and bought a 30 500 square foot brand new house. We wouldn't be able to give as much as we give.

00:46:34:01 - 00:46:47:13
Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah, you start kind of learning that other things are maybe a little more important. That's cool to hear. So you get into business. So you started this aging thing and then you start from there recognizing like, hey, let me build my team around me. Is this kind of what led you down that path?

00:46:47:15 - 00:47:13:03
Speaker 1
Yeah. Well, and I love the lead, so I'm a good individual producer. But that that doesn't energize me. Yeah. Mobilizing a team energizes me. And so I knew that I wanted to be the business owner at scale. The team. And, and so I, my my assistant, actually, said, I'm giving you six months, and then you need to hire me.

00:47:13:05 - 00:47:27:18
Speaker 1
So when I left Keller Williams. Yeah. She's still with me today. My my assistant at the time, she's still with me today. She's family. She's a sister I never had. Well, but, she's like, oh, I'm giving you. I'm giving you six months.

00:47:27:19 - 00:47:28:12
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:47:28:14 - 00:47:51:19
Speaker 1
And, and then you got to take me. And so we, you know, it's not a deal, you know, six months. I hired her, and she was my first, employee there. And, you know, obviously best hire ever made. I mean, I'm, I'm here where I am today because of the leverage that she creates for me and and the standard that she helps me live to, like, she she truly multiplies me.

00:47:51:21 - 00:48:11:14
Speaker 1
And, and so with her, we were able to scale the business up. We were able to do more transactions, generate more leads and, you know, build a bigger business and, and, and through living, modestly, you know, living on half our income, we were able to store up enough cash to go start this construction company.

00:48:11:16 - 00:48:37:01
Speaker 1
And, and so, you know, we just the thing that I've been willing to do is to say yes to opportunity, knowing that I could turn it off if I had to. Yeah. And, and so real estate sales has always come naturally. It's always been a profitable, cash flowing business. It's always been beautiful for my family. It's rewarded us in so many ways.

00:48:37:02 - 00:49:00:22
Speaker 1
And I've taken these bets along the way, like the construction company knowing that. All right. Well, I'm going to I'm going to hire my first employee for $150,000 a year. And really, it's really just six months. So it's really it's really just $75,000. There's a $75,000 bet. Because in six months, if he isn't doing what he says he can do that.

00:49:00:22 - 00:49:02:09
Speaker 2
Earn his CV's, get it fast somewhere else.

00:49:02:10 - 00:49:14:20
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah. We'll just find someone else to do I mean like, you know, and I was real clear with him. I was like, hey, look, you can build a house out of your cell phone. I don't know anything about building houses, but I know how to I know how to buy them. Right? And I know how to sell them.

00:49:14:20 - 00:49:29:22
Speaker 1
Right. Yeah. I'm going to pay you the hundred and 50 grand that you asked for. Yeah. I said, what's your number? He 150,000. All right, I'm going to pay you that money. But you have to build this house out of your cell phone. And to his credit, the dude built a house out of a cell phone. Wow.

00:49:29:23 - 00:49:49:02
Speaker 1
And we sold it. And it was a great looking house. And it was profitable. But but I knew, like, it was just a six month that, worst case scenario, I had to let this guy go. I sell this piece of real estate, probably, you know, for less than I bought it for, you know, unfortunately, but I'm going to survive that, and it was worth the bet.

00:49:49:04 - 00:50:12:09
Speaker 2
Yeah. And then you get into, I mean, this whole. I mean, you've gone to so many things. Probably worth getting back. Getting you back on there. We're actually going to do some other things with you or go a little deeper, dive into these things. But like what? Where did this idea of like, okay, construction in. Yeah. Now let's look at this other business, you know, in the laundry space, like, is this the is this the kind of curious and what drives that?

00:50:12:11 - 00:50:14:17
Speaker 2
Yeah. Creativity or whatever you want to call it.

00:50:14:21 - 00:50:38:10
Speaker 1
And I'm not I'm really not as creative as maybe I sound, but. So the, the, the the construction company, these guys make good money in construction when it's done really well, you make it's a great business because the margin isn't super high, but you spend so much money in the business that even a smaller margin ends up being a lot of money.

00:50:38:12 - 00:50:58:20
Speaker 1
So I knew it was a great business. But the compliment that it really gave my business, my sales business, is there's going to be a for sale sign in the ground for 12 months while we're building it in the best location in Austin. And it's a big, beautiful house. Those were the buyers that we wanted to talk to, and so they called our sign all year long asking us, and they run.

00:50:58:21 - 00:51:19:08
Speaker 1
You know, a lot of these guys are unrepresented. Yeah. And so, you know, it brought leads into our business and it was the right leads. And so it complemented our core business really well. And that's why the ban on construction made so much sense. Because even if our broke even in the construction, which there was never an intent to break even like we we were always going to make money with it.

00:51:19:08 - 00:51:43:06
Speaker 1
Yeah. You know, it it may be, it may be the business that we ran into the sunset with. Right. But but it was always even if it broke even, it was still a plus to the core business that we were already building. The sales business. Laundry. We were Chris and I, you know, we're investing, in real estate, you know, the single family homes.

00:51:43:06 - 00:52:05:08
Speaker 1
And then we got some friends that are commercial guys and, you know, bring opportunities, right? Like, once you once you help enough people, then people start to help you, right? So they bring a deal, flow in. And, you know, there's some retail. I like retail. I understand it. And, I just I just like it. I just like, I like people working hard, you know, in these places.

00:52:05:08 - 00:52:30:14
Speaker 1
And, you know, small business owners, all it, so I invested in, a retail center with some friends of mine, and, three of the units released two units were vacant. We we believe we can get the other two spaces rented. Got four space rented. But the fifth space, we can never get rented. And I'm like, all right, it's not okay to just not, improve this real estate.

00:52:30:14 - 00:52:50:12
Speaker 1
You know, we increase the value when you have it all leased out and said, we've got to solve this problem. So we started looking at businesses we could plug into this space that would cash flow very quickly and would use the value of the strip center. Yeah. Right. And so we we looked at pizza shops, we looked at all these things and then got on laundry.

00:52:50:12 - 00:53:13:18
Speaker 1
And I'm like, all right, well this laundry this is a good little business model. Good debt. Great for your taxes. Right. Like to be able to depreciate the machines and all that pretty low, oversight requirement from a leadership perspective and time, time investment. And, gets, you know, just based on the numbers that we thought we could hit, got the cash flow positive pretty quickly.

00:53:13:20 - 00:53:30:11
Speaker 1
So let's do it. And so we put a laundromat in there. And that laundromat, I mean, it's still open today. Rocking and rolling it is is the best cash flowing asset that I own today. And, and, and the only thing that we were doing was trying to solve an investment problem.

00:53:30:15 - 00:53:33:19
Speaker 2
Yeah, it goes back to real estate. Yeah. Just trying to figure how to solve it.

00:53:33:19 - 00:53:48:13
Speaker 1
It was trying to solve that real estate problem, you know, because it's natural for me to be an investor in real estate, right? Because my whole world is real estate. And so it was just natural for me to invest in all these deals. Well, dadgum, you know, you're always kind of looking for a competitive edge in a business.

00:53:48:15 - 00:54:08:07
Speaker 1
Well, if we're going to invest in commercial real estate, why not juice that investment even more by putting a cash flow in business in every piece of commercial real estate we buy. And so our whole model now for investing in commercial real estate is to find a strip center that we could plug a laundromat into so that we have two cash flowing opportunities out of that house, let's say, and the.

00:54:08:07 - 00:54:27:07
Speaker 2
Laundry I'm going to give folks just, just a little insight into like how when you think of when I think of a laundromat, a lot of first thing a laundromat, they go like, man, it's just like $0.25 at a time, though. And it's, I mean, can you give folks a scope of why is it a great business economically?

00:54:27:09 - 00:54:56:09
Speaker 1
Well, all right. So again, the debt on the machines is good debt. It's not it's not as easy as like real estate debt. Right. With a long amortization. It's got a shorter amortization, which means that the payments are higher. Yeah. But it's still pretty low rate. On the interest. And, you know, you can depreciate the machines on your taxable income, so it like, it really kind of offsets, some of that expense there.

00:54:56:11 - 00:55:15:16
Speaker 1
You can a large part of laundry is choosing the right location. So it's not it's not like you have a service that you're wondering if people are going to pay for it, like it's an essential service when, when, Covid shut everybody down, you know, they had essential services that were allowed to open back up pretty quick.

00:55:15:18 - 00:55:45:01
Speaker 1
Well, Andre's in essential service. And so whenever you're selling an essential service, it's just a matter of choosing the right location and delivering it well. And so homebuilding I mean, we have to have shelter. It's it's somewhat of an essential service. Right. And so we. We just we, we sell economically. We can get high leverage. So we didn't have to put a bunch of money into it to get it open.

00:55:45:03 - 00:56:17:15
Speaker 1
Then we saw these other opportunities for us, you know, to write down some income. It it's a pretty easy business to manage. There's lots of people, but but, like, you know, the process is fairly simple. And then the one thing that that we've integrated in there are laundromats that not everybody does, but like, it's a good part of our businesses you have access to, a demographic of the population that needs like, needs help.

00:56:17:17 - 00:56:40:00
Speaker 1
And, and we just we love the opportunity to be able to go into our stores, and connect with people, you know, in a supportive way, emotionally, but also, you know, how can we help you financially? So not only do we reward people with, you know, some free laundry here and there, but we we give books away every one of our stores.

00:56:40:00 - 00:56:56:16
Speaker 1
If a child picks up one of the books off of the rack and they want it, we tell them to take it. So we we buy books every month, and that's neat. Yeah. And so a lot of these kids, their parents don't have money to buy books. You know, you and I have books in our house and our kids, they're going to be blessed because if they want a book, we're just going to buy it, right?

00:56:56:16 - 00:57:20:06
Speaker 1
Like we we can do it like that. But these kids, you know, that that's that 20 bucks for for a book that's that's probably feeding their family that night. Yeah. And they can't do that. So we give the books, every August we buy book bags. So, you know, people can come in and they kids can just pick out a book bag and that hopefully that helps them for the start of their school year.

00:57:20:08 - 00:57:46:05
Speaker 1
We give Thanksgiving dinners away. Just gift cards, you know, to H-e-b to go get their Thanksgiving dinner. We do we do a number of things for the communities that, you know, filled fills a spot in our hearts that we don't get to scratch a lot of that. You know, my my job here in town, you know, low, low income folks aren't buying homes in Austin, Texas.

00:57:46:07 - 00:57:55:13
Speaker 1
And my, my kids go to a, you know, a private school, right? The people that go there, they're not experiencing the same part of life.

00:57:55:13 - 00:57:56:15
Speaker 2
They're not using a laundromat.

00:57:56:15 - 00:58:19:21
Speaker 1
Yeah. That's right. And so our kids, my kids go with me to hand out the backpacks. You know, I, we want to experience some of that stuff that that we've been blessed with extreme gifts. And so you're, you're not giving gifts just to enjoy them yourself. You're giving gifts to steward those. Yeah. And so we're just we're we get the opportunity to steward through that business that most people don't get the chance to.

00:58:19:23 - 00:58:29:13
Speaker 1
And so we're just we just love it, man. That that part of it, that mission, that, that purpose, part of it feels really good to I mean, but financially, it it's a.

00:58:29:15 - 00:58:31:18
Speaker 2
It's a great business, right? Yeah. I mean, you can do both.

00:58:31:19 - 00:58:32:09
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:58:32:11 - 00:58:44:10
Speaker 2
Man. Two more things in my brain, man. And I'm we're going to have to get you in here for another. But it's just like good conversation. Just go. Good one. Before we get off the laundromat thing. Yeah. Talk to me about this, Minister love.

00:58:44:12 - 00:58:45:05
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:58:46:16 - 00:59:12:10
Speaker 1
All right, so my, my father, Oh, man, I, I can't tell you. My dad's a good man. He is a good man. I can't think of another person on this planet that's more selfless than him. He he got a little stir crazy, when he retired. Yeah, yeah. And he just. He needed something, and, I was like, well, we're going to we're going to open this laundromat.

00:59:12:11 - 00:59:27:10
Speaker 1
You want to do you want to go start this thing for us? And he was all and he's like, oh, yeah, I'll be, you know, and my dad, he needed it, you know, to keep him busy. But like, he was doing it for me. Like he, he was like, I'm not going to let this fail. You know, we're going to get this thing going for you.

00:59:27:10 - 00:59:54:22
Speaker 1
Scholar. And he was the first employee of the laundromat. And so when all the way back to sweeping floors and wiping walls and, you know, running the cash, you know, a POS system, I he did all the things right. And now he's a regional manager for us. But the next step for him, you know, we're about to grow and split his job in the two people, and then we're going to put him into this role called the Minister of Love.

00:59:54:22 - 01:00:24:16
Speaker 1
He's already operating in this role. But, but his title is The Minister of Love, and his job is to not only love on our people, our team, but to love on our clients and to find ways to love on them. And so I just I'll, I'll, I'll tell you two things. And then if you want more, I we can go all day, but my father every morning prays that someone comes to him and needs prayer.

01:00:24:22 - 01:00:46:09
Speaker 1
And so. And he won't leave the store until he prays for somebody. And so he's looking, like, literally shows up to the store knowing that he can't leave that day unless he prays for somebody. And so he's looking for and think about the conversations that he's setting out to have with every person on the floor. And so he's going person to person because, you know, he can't go home until he prays for somebody.

01:00:46:09 - 01:01:05:05
Speaker 1
That's cool. So he's checking in with every client, he's checking in with every employee. He's he is hunting, looking for God to put on his heart. Like, this is the one. And so every day he does that, he's looking for somebody to love on. And then, you know, I just this is the time of duty is he's he's at the laundromat working.

01:01:05:07 - 01:01:23:17
Speaker 1
Okay, one of these guys come in, you know, he's he's hunting to to pray with him. Right. And, you know, and it's irregular, but and, you know, I, I don't know his name, but I'll just call him John. He's like, John, how are you doing? John's like, well, it's not good today. And he goes, whoa, what's going on?

01:01:23:17 - 01:01:35:17
Speaker 1
He's like, well, I'm being evicted from my apartment. And, and my truck's broke down, so I'm not going to be able to get my stuff out of my apartment. So I'm about to lose all my stuff because, you know, the apartment complex, the.

01:01:35:17 - 01:01:36:09
Speaker 2
The.

01:01:36:11 - 01:01:54:13
Speaker 1
The lock, the doors and the your stuff is theirs. And, and this is at 5:00. Yeah. My dad's about to get in the truck and go home. Am I saying, well, where's that? Yeah, he's at, you know, up the street, right. A couple miles away, I was like, well, get in the truck. Let's go. Joseph, my dad's 65.

01:01:54:15 - 01:02:16:10
Speaker 1
He's got he's got to replace knee the dude. He don't need to be moving furniture, but he works with that other older guy all night long to move his furniture out of his his apartment with my dad's truck, making all these trips just because. Yeah, just because he's a minister of love. Yeah. And my mom, you know, he gets home at night.

01:02:16:10 - 01:02:20:16
Speaker 1
My mom's like, what are you doing? He's like, well, I was helping this guy move. She's like, helping a guy move.

01:02:20:18 - 01:02:22:05
Speaker 2
You.

01:02:22:07 - 01:02:25:12
Speaker 1
Hey. Probably not. You know, he probably couldn't walk the next day, you know, like.

01:02:25:12 - 01:02:39:06
Speaker 2
You know, I know, but. But it's on his heart for some reason. He's got it there, man. It sounds like he's. I mean, that's kind of y'all's. Makes me want to go wash my clothes into a laundromat. You know, just kind of see, with the. That's not the experience you would expect.

01:02:39:08 - 01:02:39:21
Speaker 1
No.

01:02:39:23 - 01:02:41:22
Speaker 2
You know. Yeah. I of a place like that.

01:02:41:23 - 01:03:04:16
Speaker 1
We we we want a loving staff. So when we're hiring people, yeah, we need them to be able to do the job. But if you're, if you're not a loving person, you're not you you're not really a fit. Yeah. Because we we need you. We one of our core values is, you know, whistle while you work and that that's also for my dad.

01:03:04:18 - 01:03:31:21
Speaker 1
Like, you know, my dad's in the store because he's whistling. He's whistling. Why is cleaning the toilets, dude, he's just happy. And we. That's how we want people to work in that organization. And, yeah, you got, you got to be a lover. And we just we just we're we're not there all the time. Right? And, and certainly not everybody is experiences what it what we want it to be and, and, certainly customers come into our laundromats and don't treat our people well.

01:03:31:23 - 01:03:42:08
Speaker 1
So it's not always a loving situation, but we if things are running well, we're just loving on people all day long, and they just happen to show up and wash their clothes, right? That's that's what we're after.

01:03:42:13 - 01:04:02:03
Speaker 2
I love that, man. Yeah. Scholars close out with this. Yeah. The study leader book. You just. It just went live last week right here, man. Yeah. And so, I mean, just tell me a little bit about kind of the whole purpose behind this book here. I can't probably from listening to you here in this conversation, folks might just have an idea, but what was the whole reason for putting this thing together?

01:04:02:05 - 01:04:22:03
Speaker 1
Yeah, I a couple years ago, I think God put a put on my heart the word influence. And and so like any problem I would solve in my business, I went and read a bunch of books and, on how to be an influencer in and I'm not I'm not doing a great job at it. I'm not this super influential person.

01:04:22:05 - 01:04:41:19
Speaker 1
But what I learned was all the influencers written a book, and I'm a guy that's very willing to put in the work. And so if I just need to go write a book, I'll just write a book. And, in the thing that I could bless the world with the most was a book on being a study leader.

01:04:41:19 - 01:05:09:05
Speaker 1
And so I, you know, when I, when I stood, when I took off on the idea, I just said, well, what what am I to my wife that matters the most? What was I to my team in combat that matters the most? What am I to my team today that matters the most? And the thing is, is steady and the more I thought about it, all of the leadership books that are written out there are to help leaders be steady themselves, to have steady producing teams and have steady producing companies.

01:05:09:07 - 01:05:32:00
Speaker 1
And so to me, it just made sense. I'm like, all right, well, what makes me steady as a leader and, and I'm a models driven guy. And so the book is just all the models that I use to lead myself every day, to leave my team every day and leave my business every day. And so you know, if you buy the book and you open it up, it's going to be just a bunch of models, you know, and some cool stories along the way.

01:05:32:04 - 01:05:43:06
Speaker 2
Yeah. No. No one. You mean just it'll be an interesting it'll be, I know that it's an interesting read, and you probably don't even know that you're learning something, but you will walk away from it better.

01:05:43:11 - 01:06:03:23
Speaker 1
Yeah, that's what I pray, you know. And I had a I had a coach call me after he read it and, and this business coach and I, you know, and I didn't know him before I had a conversation when we don't have, like, a history together. And I never hired him as a business coach, but, you know, you just got my network, and he calls me, he goes, hey, Skyler, you gave gave a lot of give a lot of models away.

01:06:03:23 - 01:06:12:08
Speaker 1
You didn't hold anything back to like, upsell, and I wasn't. It was never the point of sale this I'm not coach. Yeah. You know this is this is my gift to the world.

01:06:12:13 - 01:06:16:22
Speaker 2
I'm giving away this. The good band, the mistakes and everything else that comes along with it.

01:06:16:22 - 01:06:46:00
Speaker 1
Yep, yep. And and I know, you know, John Maxwell defines leadership as influence. And so, you know, I'm to some extent I'm after influence, with the world. And I know this. If you can live your life in such a way that someone wants a part of it. So they either want to be like you financially, you know, have your balance sheet, or they want to be like you physically or they want to be like you spiritually, or they want to run a business like yours.

01:06:46:02 - 01:07:07:15
Speaker 1
You will have their influence. You will they will come to you for that. And then you can make them a better person, through your influence. And so that's that's it. You know, if I can write a book and I can get some more people to follow me, then maybe, just maybe, I can say a thing here and there that can make people better and then make this world a better place.

01:07:07:17 - 01:07:09:18
Speaker 1
Yeah. Kind of just make a world more loving.

01:07:10:00 - 01:07:15:20
Speaker 2
Yeah, man, that's a good mission to have. And kind of going back to the beginning here, it's about also, you know, laying yourself for.

01:07:15:21 - 01:07:17:12
Speaker 1
So every day.

01:07:17:13 - 01:07:29:18
Speaker 2
Man we're stoked to get we got so many good things in route with Skyler here. One got the book out. So please help folks go check this out. Too. We got some. We're going to be doing some behind the scenes with you on a couple of your businesses, man. From laundry to building homes, you're.

01:07:29:18 - 01:07:31:00
Speaker 1
Going to you're going to meet the minister of,

01:07:31:05 - 01:07:50:21
Speaker 2
I cannot wait, man. I cannot wait to meet the minister. Love and, he might. I mean, I'm I may be his guy that day that he can do some praying on. So all that to say, we're stoked, man. Thank you for for being an example and and just kind of always every time I've had engages with you and other people have met you, me and just been so forthcoming with your time.

01:07:50:21 - 01:07:52:16
Speaker 2
So thank you, Skyler, for the time today.

01:07:52:17 - 01:07:54:15
Speaker 1
Yes. My pleasure.

01:07:54:15 - 01:08:20:21
Speaker 1
Thanks for tuning in to the American Operator Podcast, where we celebrate the backbone of America small business owners and operators like you. If you've enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe so you'll never miss out on more of these stories and insights from people who keep our community strong. Until next time, keep building, keep operating and keep America moving forward.