Entrepreneurship, Growth, & Meaningful Success (with Bryan Hurd)

What if the secret to a fulfilling career wasn’t just about making money, but about building connections, embracing growth, and aligning your work with your purpose? In this episode, I sit down with my longtime friend Bryan Hurd—real estate pro, entrepreneur, and founder of The Evolution Project—to discuss the key lessons he’s learned about success in both business and life.

Bryan shares his journey from almost becoming an accountant to building a thriving real estate business, the mindset shifts that helped him navigate challenges, and the importance of intentionality in work and relationships. We also dive into leadership, personal growth, and how to manage energy, not just time, to live a truly fulfilling life.

🔥 Key Insights from This Episode:
✅ How to build a business based on trust and relationships
✅ The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make (and how to avoid them)
✅ Why managing your energy is more important than managing your time
✅ The mindset shift that will help you create a meaningful career

Don’t miss this inspiring conversation! And stay tuned for Part 2, where we continue our conversation about personal growth, leadership, and what matters most. We'll also explore Bryan’s Evolution Project—a transformative experience designed to help men reconnect with purpose and personal growth.

💡 Connect with Bryan Hurd
👉 Learn more about The Evolution Project: myevolutionproject.com
👉 Follow Bryan on Instagram: @bhurd2u

🎙 Subscribe & Get Your Free Resource!
Sign up for the Meaningful Insights newsletter at fulfillingworkmeaningfullife.com and receive a free digital resource to help you find or create fulfilling work.

Until next time, let’s make it a meaningful week!

00:00 Introduction to a Fulfilling Career
01:01 Meet Bryan Hurd: Real Estate Pro and Entrepreneur
03:11 Bryan's Journey into Real Estate
05:43 Challenges and Lessons in Real Estate
15:17 Finding Fulfillment in Work
19:47 Leadership and Mentorship
25:18 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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https://fulfillingworkmeaningfullife.com/

Transcript

 Anthony: [00:00:00] What if the key to a fulfilling career wasn't just about making money but about building real connections, embracing growth, and aligning your work with your purpose? In today's episode, I share part one of my interview with my longtime friend, Bryan Hurd, real estate pro, entrepreneur, and founder of The Evolution Project.
From navigating the uncertainty of entrepreneurship, To discovering the power of intentionality in work and life, Bryan shares insights that will challenge the way you think about success. If you've ever wondered how to turn your career into a meaningful journey, you won't want to miss this conversation.
Stay tuned. This is Fulfilling Work, Meaningful Life with Anthony Craiker, the show that helps you find and create purpose and meaning in all aspects of your [00:01:00] life.
 
Welcome everyone to another episode of Fulfilling Work Meaningful Life with Anthony Craiker. I am super excited about today's show this will be my first interview on Fulfilling Work Meaningful Life And not only am I excited about that but i'm excited that my very first interview is with my very good friend that i've known for If my math is right, I think we've known each other over 24 years now.
, but his name is Bryan Hurd and he is a really interesting guy. , Bryan is a seasoned real estate professional and founder of the evolution project, which is a men's group created during the challenges of 2020 to foster connection, growth, and brotherhood. With relationships at the core of his life's work, Bryan built a thriving foundation in real estate, which naturally led to new ventures centered on empowering others as a husband and father of [00:02:00] four boys, Bryan finds his greatest joy in family and fatherhood.
His love for people shaped by experiences like serving an LDS mission in Madrid, Spain, fuels his passion for building connections and inspiring growth. Bryan believes life prepares us perfectly for the present moment and is dedicated to helping others embrace this truth, fostering purpose and fulfillment in all they do.
Welcome to Fulfilling Work Meaningful Life, Bryan. I feel like after the intro we could just be done, you know, yeah, yeah, just, uh, you, you sound, you sound awesome there. I was like, this is great. I want to meet this guy. Oh man. Is that right? 24 years. I, I was thinking we met in December of. 2000. That's correct.
Yeah. That's [00:03:00] right. We were both in Spain , doing missionary work for our church. So, yeah, so known you a long time and, uh, you're my brother from another mother. Hey, thank you. All right. So let's jump right into it. You've got a really interesting career, , and have been really successful with your business.
So I want to start with that and talk about how you got into real estate and some of the things that you've learned, and then we'll talk about your evolution project. And what that's all about. And, and anything else that you want to add in. So let's start if we could go back to the early part of your career.
What inspired you to get into real estate? Like, why did you choose that as a career? 
 
Bryan: , You know, there was a level of like, , I kind of just fell into it mixed with a level of I knew for a fact I didn't want to be an accountant and that's the direction my life was going and [00:04:00] the way it works to become an accountant, kind of like becoming an attorney.
Right? You have like an undergraduate, which most people get their degree in accounting. And then in the state of Utah, if you want to ultimately become a CPA, which is, you know, Most accountants are going to want to become a CPA. You basically have to get the equivalent of a master's, which most people take a master's of accounting, and that's like another year, year and a half of a program.
And, you know, I, I probably knew going into my junior year, I didn't want to be an accountant, but I also knew that I didn't want to start over again and changing my degree. And I felt like, you know, it was one of those things where I felt like, well, accounting is the language of business. You know, I probably won't regret it.
 But the more I got into that, the more I realized like, man, this, this would not be. A good life for me. I don't know how long I could really do that. And so meanwhile, well, this is all going on. , you know, I, I ended up getting married. My father in law was a broker and an owner of a [00:05:00] REMAX, , in Utah, and he basically was like, Hey, do you want to come down and sell real estate with me this summer?
And my thought was, is You know, what else would I be doing that summer? I'd probably get a job around campus, right? And I was like, yeah, sure. And that ended up, you know, after that summer, I remember walking away from thinking I could do that. That seems like something that was fun. I like people. I like the autonomy of it.
I believe in home ownership. Like, this could be great. And. So in a roundabout way, I feel very fortunate that early on in my life, I was led to a place that opened up a conversation on real estate because it really has been, it's been a great career. You know, it's been a great job. It's, it's something I've really enjoyed.
Anthony: Yeah. So you started off working for your father in law and then at some point you decided to go out on your own. What went into that decision? 
Bryan: I think that was more. Um, there was a lot of things going on at that time. Uh, the real estate market had [00:06:00] shifted. So, you know, when I started, there was enough business that, you know, my father and I probably had more business they could handle.
And that was a great overflow as I was trying to build my own business. , you know, a couple of years later that happened. Yeah. Change significantly in the market was a lot different and, , there's just a lot of things going on. And, , I mean, I, I truly, I think eventually I, that's probably what I would have done.
I was, I was on the track to do anyway. And I think that's what a good mentor does. You know, he taught me how to sell real estate. He was awesome. And then I think he understood when I was like, Hey, I want to try to build my own thing. And he was like, yeah, that's awesome. You know, go do it. Very supportive and still want to like my best friends to this day.
Anthony: That's great. Yeah, that's really important that you can maintain that close relationship even after leaving. So as you think back to starting the business, what were some of the biggest challenges you faced as a, a new small business [00:07:00] owner? 
Bryan: Well, real estate. There's a lot of ways to sell real estate.
There's a lot of different avenues that you can go down. Um, I kind of just modeled what my father in law had done, which was just building a referral based business. But as you can imagine, you know, when you start out, uh, one, nobody knows that you sell real estate and to the people that know you sell real estate.
There's a part of them. That's kind of like, yeah, sitting back and looking like, is this guy really going to make it? Or, you know, and not that I felt like anybody was like hating on me. I never felt like not supported. , but I mean, the upside to real estate is that, like monthly expenses. If you're don't have assistant and you're not running office because it's not that bad, but the flip side to that is, is that, you know, it's 100 percent commission based job, right?
So, , you know, that's something you got to kind of like wrap your mind around. And it's, there is a level of, you know, tension on the rope. That first [00:08:00] year or two, because you never kind of feel like you get out too far ahead of it. And the, the curse of real estate agencies, they have a good month or they have, you know, two good months and then they take their foot off the gas.
And then the next month stinks. And then they're like, oh, I better start selling houses again. And they kind of, they kind of do this, like. Financial rollercoaster and every real estate agent has to learn that, you know, but 
Anthony: did that motivate you like did that tension of, uh, or that pressure of having to, you know, kill what you eat, so to speak, was that a motivator for you?
Because I can see some people might kind of feel crushed under the pressure of it, but others might thrive in that sort of environment. I 
Bryan: saw this quote this morning, , by Sarah Blakely. She's the founder of Spanx. 
Anthony: Oh yeah. 
Bryan: And she basically her and her husband, Jesse Eisner is his name. Really successful entrepreneur. They're, they're [00:09:00] a fun follow on Instagram. They're just really great people. And one of the things she was talking about is that, um, her husband always preaches that pressure is a privilege. 
Anthony: Hmm. 
Bryan: And, you know, it definitely reveals things.
Pressure definitely reveals things for sure. I know for me, it's not like it's interesting. It's not like I love pressure. But the other thing is, is I can tell you that. You know, putting deadlines and expectations and having pressure in my life, I feel like it's been a good thing for me, you know, it gets me out of bed every morning, keeps me focused to sticking to my schedule every day, holding myself accountable, you know, yeah, being productive.
Anthony: Sure. Yeah, that makes sense. Um, are there any failures that you had early on as a business owner that would be helpful for other people to hear so that they can , learn from a mistake that you may have made , as a brand new entrepreneur. [00:10:00] 
Bryan: Yeah. It's so funny. I like, my first thought was like, well, which one, you know, which ones are we talking about today?
Um, failure is just part of the process, you know, it's one thing to learn from your own failures. It's another thing to learn from somebody else's failures. I feel like , I've had experiences where I've learned from other people's failures, but man, , I've made some mistakes along the way.
I mean little things about being an entrepreneur, like, , for example, , setting aside your taxes. So when you have to pay them the next year, , a lot of times when you're, a salary, not a, uh, a commission based job, you just put everything in the bank account. You think, oh, that's 100 percent mine, right?
If only. Yeah, exactly. And so, I mean, that's a mistake. A lot of entrepreneurs make, they don't set aside tax. They don't have a tax strategy. They don't have their reserves set aside to pay taxes. I mean, I've done that a few times. Definitely. Uh, I feel like sometimes I'm a procrastinator. I [00:11:00] don't love that, but you know, I've always found this is what's so funny whenever I find myself procrastinating something and I finally ended up doing it literally almost every time.
After the procrastination has gone away and I'm finished. I go, that was not that hard. The amount of energy that I spent worrying about this and procrastinating this and all this stuff was such a waste of energy if I just would have gone and done it, you know? And so that is something that. I definitely feel like I've learned from, um, I don't know.
I mean, lots of things along the way, I think, uh, with a commission based job and, you know, I, I would, I would make the mistake of thinking, man, I worked 60 hours this week, but the truth was, is like, if I was actually. You know, being like an attorney, for example, and billing out every 15 minutes, I probably wasn't really [00:12:00] working 60 hours, you know, but that time I was taking away from my family.
Sure. And so like, these are all things. You know, I could tell you so many things, man, like having a morning routine, taking care of yourself, like these things all just kind of parlay into the same conversation, which is the title of your podcast, right? Yeah. I mean, fulfillment, building a meaningful life.
It all comes back to intention and like energy management and energy to me is such an interesting concept. And what I'm talking about when I say energy, I say like life force. So life force is the amount of energy that I bring to my day, you know, and, , what I see so much is people use their life force in the wrong places, you know, they're not maximizing that.
And I'll give you an example for years, I would go and eat lunch, but like I would eat really [00:13:00] unhealthy lunches, you know, like. cheeseburger and four Dr. Peppers and fries. And you know, uh, I'd go to lunch with a friend or a buddy or somebody before I know what I'm getting back. The office is an hour and a half later, almost two hours later.
And then I sit down in my seat and I'm just like, I'm not feeling highly efficient. My life force is very low in this moment. And you know, you, you drudge through you know, two to four o'clock and then before you know, it's time to go home and it's like, what did I do this afternoon? And I'm guilty of that.
Like, I've done that a ton of times, right? What do you do to manage that energy? Well, I mean, it's just consciousness, right? It's intention is saying, you know, do I love food so much that I'm willing to sacrifice three or four hours of my day for efficiency? And it's like, well, in that context, no, I don't, I don't want to do that.
I don't want to stay in the office and come home at 6. 30, 7 o'clock because I wasn't productive in the afternoon. And I mean, [00:14:00] these are all, you know, right now I'm telling you like. You could like easily step over these failures and be like, well, those aren't failures. I do stuff like that all the time, or that's not that big of a deal, but these things compound.
Right? Sure. And, um, you know, I, I could get into like, heavy failure where I was like. Yeah, dude, uh, I was struggling to make my house payment for a year and a half when the real estate market crashed and I remember Literally thinking on the 14th of every month like do I really want to make my house payment?
I've got enough funds to do it But do I really want to do this or should I just be like everybody else and be like this was a bad decision Let's short sell the house and like move on right? and I can say that I've never missed a house payment. I can say that, you know, I got on the other side of it and made it through and ended up selling the house later on and made money.
Right? Like, but it's just like in the moment. I mean, it was [00:15:00] very real, you know, and that was a, you know, when the real estate market crashed in summer of 2007 Really, I mean, it was pretty much for the next four years, you know, it was, it was just rough waters, you know, it was hard, learned a lot during that period of time.
Anthony: One of the things that I love talking about, uh, and one of the reasons that I started this show is the importance of finding meaning and purpose and fulfillment and all aspects of our lives. But one of those aspects is work, right? A huge part of our week, working most of us, uh, to support our families.
And if we're not finding fulfillment in the work that we're doing, that's a long 40, 50 hours a week, right? What is it about your profession and real estate that you have found to be fulfilling? How has that brought meaning and purpose to your [00:16:00] life? 
 
Bryan: I've always loved people and I value relationships and I knew that, you know, if I could be in a space where I could help people and do something I believed in, uh, I just had a belief that it probably would be, you know, something I would enjoy.
Right? That's probably why accounting just seemed like such a bleak future for me because, you know, oftentimes, sometimes, Specifically, a lot of the accounting that I was doing when I did an internship was in a back corner in a cubicle, and I was there for six, seven hours a day, you know, um, it doesn't take long for, you know, me to already admit what I already knew, which is like, man, I'm a, I'm a social creature.
Right. Uh, I enjoy people. And what I really liked about real estate is like, uh, I love to think of the concept of like structured autonomy. Because, [00:17:00] you know, the reality is, is I could, I could do whatever I want to do, you know, but. If I'm not, if I don't have some level of structure to do the things that I need to do every day, , I know where that's going to end up, you know, that's, that's, you're not probably going to be successful, but I also know that, man, if, if I have a day where, you know, I've done all my stuff that I needed to do, and I want to leave early that day and go hit a bucket of balls before I go home, because I don't have anything else to do.
And I've accomplished all the things I need to get done. Like, I totally can go do that. Yeah. You know, and so the freedom here at my kid's school or go skiing or, you know, do things, I mean, like. That's why I work. 
Anthony: Yeah. 
Bryan: You know, 
Anthony: you and I are both in professions that, where sometimes the, the public perception of our profession isn't the most [00:18:00] positive.
 How important are ethics to you , as a professional, and what do you do to establish a relationship of trust with the clients that you serve? Good question. 
Bryan: , that's a good question. I would tell you that, I could say whatever I want to say about myself, you know? And , I think this is why a lot of people in like specifically sales type industries or attorney type industries is, you know, you've got these people with like silver tongues that sound really good and over promise under deliver, right?
People have bad experiences with them and then they just. Right off that, you know, all real estate agents are garbage or this or that. And so it's like, um, real estate's actually pretty easy. It's like pick up your phone, do what you say you're going to do. And look for ways to add value to people's life and make it as easy as possible for them.
Uh, if you just [00:19:00] did that, you'd probably be better than 80, 90 percent of the real estate agents out there. It's just setting a standard for yourself, holding yourself to a standard and being in integrity with it. 
Anthony: Yeah. You've built your business on referrals, right?
, that's kind of been how you've been able to grow your business so well. Is that right? Yeah. And you only get referrals when you're doing a good job and , people trust you when you can deliver when you do what you say you're going to do. Right. Yeah. 
Bryan: There's a, there's a line that I remember when I first started in real estate, they said, The best way to get more business is to do a really good job with the business you already have.
Yeah. I like that. Yeah. It's like really simple. You know, it's like, Oh, I could do that for sure. 
Anthony: So as your business has grown, I assume you've grown a team over the years. What have you learned about leadership that you didn't know when you were [00:20:00] starting out, uh, all those years ago as you've brought people on and built the business?
Bryan: Yeah, man. Uh, well, leadership is one of the best ways to learn anything. , because succeeding with and through other people, , is not easy, but , every business owner will hit a place where, if they've done a good job and they built their business to a certain point, they can't service all the business that they have or the opportunities that they have in front of them.
So then they have a choice. You know, I guess they can have a lot of different choices, but in real estate, for example, you know, you basically say, , either the quality of my life is probably going to go down because I'm just going to be showing houses and going on appointments all the time and I'm never going to sleep or, I need to bring somebody into my life.
In real estate, most often the first hire people make is going to be a, an assistant that's [00:21:00] going to help with like paperwork and, you know, keeping things organized and maybe some marketing stuff. Um, and then, you know, in Gary Keller's book, the millionaire real estate agent, he actually says that your second hire should be another assistant after that.
And until you've hit a threshold, and I can't remember that I think it's like 50 or 70 homes a year, you know, like you should be able to operate a business that way. And there's people that do it for sure. Um, that was not necessarily my track. But I did, I did bring people onto my real estate team and we did work together and I trained a lot of people and it was good.
It was really good. You know, it created a good culture and environment of success and, um, you know, I got a lot of fulfillment out of it. It's awesome. 
Anthony: That's great. Are there, you mentioned Gary Keller. , are there other, um, leaders, not, not, not necessarily in your. , field of real estate, but are there other [00:22:00] leaders who have had an influence on you as you've developed yourself as a leader over the years?
Hmm. 
Bryan: Oh, for sure. Um, that's a good, another good question. I would tell you I've had mentors along the way that have helped me develop as a person. And then that personal self development manifests itself in my business. I always tell people real estate is what I do, but it's not who I am, but who I am greatly impacts what I do. So, the game starts to become how can I continually become the best version of myself?
How can I increase my awareness? How can I increase my skill sets? How can I become a better listener? How can I get better at my craft, right? So it's like, it's interesting. It's kind of this balance between, you know, um, Uh, [00:23:00] tactical skills that you need to understand to operate in your profession. And then it's mixed with these like interpersonal skills.
It's kind of like a, like an art and a science conversation, you know? And I think anyone that's like achieved a level of mastery in their craft usually doesn't do it by themselves. I don't know how anyone can say I'm self made. Right. And especially in this day and age, when you've got, , tools like YouTube out there, I mean, the reality is, is I've watched my son learn how to do things on his car because he starts up a YouTube video and he's like, I'm gonna learn how to change my brakes.
Yeah. You know? So yeah, yeah, for sure. And, , I know I paused and didn't really answer the question of like who are mentors or leaders in my life, but I mean, the truth is, is I've been surrounded by so many people and I feel like if I started naming it, I know I'm going to forget.
More than half the people because they've all played [00:24:00] roles, you know, and what's been interesting is oftentimes these relationships where there's a level of like leadership or mentorship, you know, most of the time , it's not expressed like it's not like, all right, Anthony, , I need you to be my mentor or whatever it's, it's through just relationship and conversations and, , you know, shared experiences.
Like these are the things that really, and I've hired coaches along the way. Absolutely. But I'll tell you that most of the people I've gotten a ton of benefit from having people that have just come in my life and had an impact in my life. Through the natural flow of my life, you know, 
Anthony: yeah, I think if you have a mindset of wanting to learn, wanting to become better, , if you're into personal development, you'll recognize those people in your life, right?
 That have an influence , on your leadership . , so I, I think that's an important component is having [00:25:00] a mindset of wanting to learn a growth mindset and then. , there will inevitably be people placed in your path that you can learn from, even if it's not a formal mentorship, there's people that will influence you, and help you along the way, is what I found.
That's right. 
Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. Please remember to check out my website, fulfillingworkmeaningfullife. com to sign up for my monthly newsletter, Meaningful Insights. When you do, I'll send you a free digital resource that will help you find or create a fulfilling career. Until next time, let's make it a meaningful week. [00:26:00]