The Property Perspective
From hidden gems to billion-dollar deals, this is The Property Perspective - where seasoned real estate pros reveal how they spot value others miss, and industry disruptors share the unconventional strategies reshaping real estate.
The Property Perspective
From Hollywood Executive to Real Estate Innovator: Brad Holcman's Journey and Insights
Hollywood veteran turned real estate visionary, Brad Holcman, joins us for an inspiring conversation that spans coastlines and industries. From the fast-paced world of TV production to the equally exciting realm of property investment, Brad shares his unique story of transformation and purpose. Brad's journey from management consultant to entertainment executive is a testament to the power of adaptability and serendipity. We explore his early career shifts, sparked by personal relationships and pivotal life moments, that led him from the drama department at 20th Century Fox to producing groundbreaking content at A&E. Through anecdotes of professional growth and unexpected career pivots, Brad emphasizes the importance of gratitude, positivity, and the courage to ask questions—a mindset that seamlessly transitioned him into the world of real estate.
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00:00 - Hope (Announcement)
From Hollywood to housing, brad Holman left a 20-year career as a TV executive to start flipping homes and tackling America's affordable housing crisis. After producing hit real estate shows like Triple Digit, flip and Zombie House Flipping, brad took the plunge into investing himself, now flipping homes in Charlotte with a mission to build co-living spaces for working class residents. In this episode of the Property Perspective, preston Zeller dives deep into Brad's journey, revealing how compassion, timing and a smile open doors in both entertainment and real estate, from hidden gems to billion dollar deals. This is the Property Perspective, where seasoned real estate pros reveal how they spot value others miss and industry disruptors share the unconventional strategies reshaping real estate. Now here are your hosts, hey everyone.
00:48 - Preston Zeller (Host)
This is Preston Zeller from Batch Service. I'm the Chief Growth Officer on the Property Perspective today and I have Brad Holcman. He is in North Carolina Charlotte, . He's a real estate investor. Also has a very interesting background in the television space, so we're going to get into that. Obviously formerly from LA area as well, was there a long time, Brad. Welcome to the show.
01:14 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
Thanks Preston for having me, and I love Batch. I am a user of Batch and appreciate, hopefully, some words of wisdom to the audience of a community I love Awesome.
01:27 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Well, I'd love to hear a bit about what you're doing today, Just briefly, and then we're going to go back into your you know, really kind of interesting background that we actually we have cross paths in that world as well.
01:39 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
So yeah, so today I am and it's weird for me to say this, but I'm a real estate investor. I can honestly say that I'm flipping a bunch of homes in the Charlotte area. I have an affordable housing mission. I like to find really low cost distressed properties. I like to buy low and then I also like to sell low. I want to bring communities back through my product. I have a team in place.
02:05
I learned very well on what I liked to do and I learned what I didn't like to do, and what I love to do is find the property. I love to comp properties. I like to fund properties, oversee the finances of property. I have no clue how to renovate whatsoever, so I have a partner that does all of that. And then next to me every night is my designer. My wife is an interior designer and she makes our properties. She's a high-end retail designer that is not doing high-end and her expertise within the interior design world is making our product look amazing.
02:44
So we're currently flipping right now. Our goal is 10 to 12 in 2025. We're about to put a couple on the market now. We're looking for properties every day. Our lead generation is not as robust as I'd like it to be, but we're figuring that out. And then my goal, my future goal, is to buy and hold co-living properties. The shared housing Cause I do believe in homeownership or a affordable roof over your head is so important and unfortunately that problem is getting worse day by day and I'd love to be part of that solution.
03:21 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Awesome. Well, it sounds like we're gonna have a lot to talk about. Why don't we go back into kind of Michigan as well? And five days after I?
03:45 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
graduated Michigan, I left for LA. The reason that I tell you, is because of the weather, because I hate cold weather. But the real reason is, like a good man, I followed a good woman out to LA and she happened to be in entertainment. I was not, and four years later we may have well, she broke up with me. That is the honest truth. It's taken me years to say that out loud. She broke up with me and I also lost my job, a really good job. So that found me in LA, single, with a severance package, and the only thing you do in LA is find entertainment. And I found it. Thankfully, I found the right person and that day literally changed my life. Where no other place in my life I think I would have been a place to accept an internship at 25 that did not pay anything. And I found myself on the Paramount Pictures lot at a film production company at a really high level my job was not the high level, but at a really high level production company and that entered the world of entertainment and I spent over 10 years in entertainment in LA.
05:00
I eventually went to Fox 21. And that's where we met. I was a television executive there, started off in scripted and then also added unscripted, did a whole lot of things and eventually I had an offer to go to a television network. I was at a studio, we made stuff and then I went over to a television network at A&E, moved to New York from LA, which I never thought I would ever live in New York I don't consider myself a New Yorker and had 12 years as a buyer at A&E, which was the 12 most incredible years. I saw everything, heard everything and it was a really great time and really built my resume and my skill set and how I'm differentiated, I believe, in the industry, which eventually led me to leaving that on good terms and entering the world of entrepreneurship. About 10 months ago.
05:57 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah, so that's a really good summary. Let's head back. I want to dig into some of these really good nuggets you brought out. Okay, so followed a girl out to Hollywood, um or la, um, yeah, like you said, um, that's, that's typical route there is. Like you know, you're gonna go chase the girl down. Um, what was the job you got or were doing originally when you went to LA before entertainment?
06:26 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
So the actual job was basically I copied scripts. I would put they're called brads that would you put in the holes of the script to combine it all. I would take a mallet because my boss at the time only wanted the brads to be as flat as possible. That literally was my job and because it was a high volume company, we probably had 50 to 60 scripts a day that we were doing this. But the best advice I ever got I honestly don't know where I got it If you're in the quote mailroom, read the mail. So I was literally at the bottom level at this company but I was in the mailroom and the mailroom means you touch everything, you hear everything. So while I'm there I got to read all of the scripts that this company was doing this. It was a production company.
07:19
The producer is no longer loved in Hollywood. His name is Scott Rudin. If you Google him, you will understand why he did not treat people that well and in entertainment. That's a big statement there, because a lot of people in entertainment are not treated well. But if you really don't treat people well in as much as you don't work in entertainment anymore or to the level that you did, you've got there's something wrong.
07:46
There was a. It was a whole article that came out it was now 10 years ago, um of somebody's account of working for the individual and I read it and I was like, um, I experienced all of that and maybe it was because I was a little bit older or I kind of expected it that I was probably not okay with it. But I was there with an intention not to be there. I was there to see entertainment, get a taste of the industry. Do I like this or not? It turns out I thought it was pretty cool. One of my cute stories was I got to drive a golf cart on the Paramount Pictures lot. That's kind of what you do when you have these companies, and I would pass literally my childhood love almost every day.
08:36
Melissa Joan Hart. If you don't know who she is Sabrina the Teenage Witch, that's all I have to say. I get to wave hi. She had no clue who I was. Teenage Witch, that's all I have to say. I get to wave hi. She had no clue who I was. And then fact my next job I went to a management company. They managed writers, producers, directors, careers in all forms of entertainment, whether it be scripted or unscripted.
09:01
Melissa Joan Hart had a production company that was run by her mom, her mom. I used to and this is what you do as an assistant I was an assistant in the industry. You would get coffee for your boss every day and I would go get coffee at Fred Siegel in Hollywood, which Fred Siegel unfortunately just ended its massive run, I think a few months ago and one of the days when I got coffee, melissa Joan Hart's mom was there and I had to say oh my God, mama Hart, I adore your daughter. Coincidentally ironically, whatever, her daughter was actually in the news because she just got engaged to our unbelievably attractive rockstar Australian boyfriend, which, of course, it was that day. And I said hey, brad, I got to see your daughter every day. It was like the joy because I've loved her ever since I was a kid. Mama Hart, who I've never met before, goes.
10:00
I know who you are and I was like what she's like oh, melissa would talk to me about this person who would have a big smile, driving in a golf cart of the company that I was in and I was never, ever, had an idea that I ever made a difference in this person's life. She appreciated the smile every day. So that's my I. I these stories in Hollywood, as you know, Preston, I'm, I'm sure it's like you. Your kind of were like what, what business am I working on or working in when? How did I get to this place? Um, so yeah. So then I started there and then I was an assistant at a management company. As a management company I got to experience all forms of entertainment, and I really love television, didn't?
10:41 - Preston Zeller (Host)
love film. Just what? What management company?
10:44 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
It was called Marathon Entertainment, no longer exists anymore. My boss, who taught me everything I knew, Stephen Marks he is unbelievable, incredible individual and as a result of that job, I got an assistant job at 20th Century Fox Television, inscripted, working in the drama department and at 20th Century Fox Television at the time, if you know entertainment, it had some of the biggest people in television. It came from some of the biggest television people today. So Dana Walden, who was number two at Disney, she ran 20th Century Fox Television. Jennifer Salke ran the department that I was in. She's the head of Amazon. Brett Weitz was in the department who ran TNT, tbs and True TV.
11:36
Really big wigs came out of this and the list is endless. And it was such a joy to work there and I worked there for eight years producing and developing some amazing like. I helped with Sons of Anarchy, which is crazy to have a show that iconic. I was there and helped with the first couple of seasons of Homeland. I mean it's an iconic show. I was the lead on an animated show Brickleberry that nobody saw when it came on Comedy Central but everybody saw when it was on Netflix. It was Daniel Tosh's show. It was such a great experience and had eight years there, learned everything about the business, how to create, how to tell stories, and it was something that I pinched myself and I'm like how lucky did I get to experience that for eight years?
12:31 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Well, especially like you know, someone who went in there not really expecting that, because there are, you know, as you know, so many people and myself was one of these included. Where you go into that industry and you know you have these I call them delusions of grandeur, but like you know what I'm going to be, this big thing or whatever so to be able to go there and just kind of like find that you had some connectivity to it, despite, you know, the kind of somewhat arbitrary moral guidelines that exist there I was actually. I worked in the mailroom at ISDM, so I totally get the mailroom thing. You definitely got to meet and see everything going on while everyone was stuck at their desk. So what's what? What is the year here? Like you go, out there what year?
13:20
what year?
13:22 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
I went out there in 99. I started in 2003. So I guess it was four years I was at. I was at PricewaterhouseCoopers. I was a management consultant.
13:38 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Okay, that's what I was. Okay, that's what we missed before. So you're at PWC for the first four years and then you made that shift to the Scott Rudin Brad stamping factory.
13:50 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
Yeah, it was. I was a business guy and I love business. I love everything about business, which is crazy because for 20 years of my life I did nothing with business and I'm now doing it. But I had. I was there because I really loved it and it brought me out to. It's funny the way that it used to work. I'm not sure if it does anymore, but they spend a lot of money on recruiting people into these firms. So the Chicago office of PWC because I wanted to be in Chicago. I love Chicago.
14:25
Growing up in Detroit, Chicago was like the big city and I had a lot of friends in the suburbs of Chicago and I got two offers from two different companies out of Chicago and I had started dating this girl and she was a year older than me and she moved to LA and I didn't know if I wanted to be in LA or not. I didn't know if we were serious or not. So I went down the course and then all of a sudden I get these offers and I'm like, wait a minute, I can't go to Chicago. I kind of like this girl and I kind of like the idea of going to LA, like it's kind of cool. So I remember calling up PWC and being like, hey, and I didn't really know how it worked. I said, hey, can I just be transferred to the LA office? I'm 21. I'm like I sound like a punk kid, like, yeah, I just. And they're like you know, that's not how it works. We just spend all this money wanting and dining you and we don't get you. It's another arm of the company that gets you. It's all the same checkbook, but it's a different P&L. And I'm like, okay, then I guess I'm not going to be working for you guys. And I was like, if that wasn't a tactic, it was just I'm not. And they're like, okay, we'll transfer you to the LA office. And it was great. Um, I'm living in LA making good money. Um, I had clients in Vegas and Ireland, so I'm living in LA making good money. I had clients in Vegas and Ireland, so I was living in Vegas and Ireland for a couple of years. It was fantastic. But you know the only thing in LA, the entertainment industry is called the industry. It is the industry, it is. And when you say I work in the industry, everybody knows what you're talking about. It's just what portion of the industry that you're in.
16:09
And, um again, I, I, the, the, the, the real, um, quick story is I'm a tennis player. I play tennis all my life. I stopped playing tennis, for whatever reason, in college. You're in LA, there's tennis courts all along. I break up with my girlfriend. I need something to do. So I find a place to play tennis, which was on La Cienega. There was tennis courts on top of a parking lot just north of Santa Monica in West Hollywood.
16:38
And this group of people, the really nice people, they all were mid-twenties and somebody asked me what are you doing?
16:46
And I said nothing.
16:47
I just got laid off and broke up with my girl and like, hey, do you want to come intern with me?
16:52
And I'm like, sure, I don't know what that means. And she's like, yeah, I work at a production company. I'm like I don't know what that means. She's like just show up at the Paramount lot. And I'm just thinking, oh, that's kind of cool, I get to work on a film lot. I don't know. I literally did not know what I was doing or had any clue. She just knew that an adult needed to be at this company because she knew the boss and how not very nice of a person he was. So that's how I ended up there, because I just happened to be literally at the right place at the right time. No other point in my life have I ever been in a position to accept an opportunity, a completely different career and a completely different opportunity based on that circumstance, and I don't think anywhere else in the world I would have been able to even have that opportunity else in the world I would have been able to even have that opportunity.
17:53 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah, so that was 2004. Then around then that that took place, yeah, okay, cool. So, yeah, I am curious to get into this with you because I was there in and around that industry partly during, you know, the 07, 08 stuff, and it seemed like people got so that that that was actually to me where this sort of seismic change and the type kinds of content studios are willing to like, take a chance on, started to change because they, they, they struggled with what was bankable. Um, I don't know, you probably have more insight on that cause you were more in the studio system, but uh, I saw it from the agency side of it. Um, yeah, what was your experience with that around that timeframe?
18:36 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
Well, so I was lucky to be part of, so I was at 20th century Fox television and then we are Dana Walden and Gary Newman at the time. Really they're visionaries and they were like hey, everybody there's, basically studios are billion dollar brands, that's how they invest in something, that's how big it had to be. And there was this whole market that was not a billion dollar brands. And where does a studio fit? So they created an offshoot called Fox 21. The 21 was we're in the next century 20th Century Fox Television, 21, still the Fox name and the idea was to do everything that a big studio couldn't. They were the first of its kind. So what they were able to do was take the infrastructure of 20th Century Fox Television but be able to produce things on a smaller level.
19:27
So where big studio was basically all or nothing, every project was all or nothing, you invest millions and millions and millions of dollars and maybe you would strike out or invest millions and millions of dollars and it'd be a grand slam. That was really the two things At a smaller studio taking on smaller projects and being a lot more lean and nimble, you could hit singles and doubles and you could have projects that otherwise you couldn't do. So a lot of projects funneled into us because there was a market that was untapped, which we got a lot of. So we became a friend to all and I got to play with so many people that wanted to be in this business. I got to make overall deals, like your former boss, and deals with people that otherwise we wouldn't be able to make because of the setup. So I totally agree In 2008, there was the big writer's strike and we were perfectly positioned, was it?
20:25
Yeah, it was 2008 that we were perfectly positioned because we were doing non-union or unscripted stuff in a big studio, so a lot of focus came. That's when I did a bunch of projects for Fox, the network and FX and Nat Geo and the infrastructure of the News Corp companies. I mean that really elevated our brand. So we were at the right place at the right time and I believe that that shaped the model for years to come.
20:55 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah, so you guys are like a kind of indie studio within a larger studio, in a matter of speaking A hundred percent, yep. Yeah, so you got to Fox what it was 2007?. I forgot how long you were at the Rudd.
21:11 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
I think around 2005. I'm messing up some years.
21:14 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah, I know it starts to become a blur, maybe even earlier, but, yeah, yeah. So we have what was your favorite project during at Fox and I think what? What was? You know? You're obviously you're new to that space. You came from this consulting background. Like, what are the major things you're learning? Like, what, what's the biggest thing you learned at the first job, which you know wasn't it was a, you know, paying your dues job. Right, what's the thing you learned there? And then into Fox 21, what was, what was the biggest takeaway there as well?
21:50 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
Oh boy, I I think across my entire career in a in and this is specific to entertainment entertainment's cutthroat. Entertainment is a really difficult business. It is a very selfish business. There is scarcity all around, growth mindset is not existent, entrepreneurship is not existent All of these things that I've learned later and not intentionally.
22:21
But I always wanted to be the smile in the room. I wanted to be the person that turns a bad day into a good day just by something I've said or a smile on my face. So for me, no matter what was going on in my life, I always showed up with a smile. I was always ready to help somebody, and that person, traditionally in entertainment does not advance very quickly. They get eaten alive. And surely I probably didn't advance in entertainment as much or fast as I could because of that and I was 100% okay with that. So for me, it was that the other part was appreciate others, appreciate others. So I was always the first one that if I liked something, no matter if I was involved in it or not, I would reach out to the person and express gratitude. And that's how, still to this day, 20 plus years, people still remember that I was that guy that reached out to thank them. Any show that I liked, I would go to the credits. I would find out who's producing it and then find them either on LinkedIn or somewhere and just send like hey, probably don't know who I am, my name is Brad. I loved it, I love what you did. So for me, expressing gratitude was something that was so important to me because I can control my output. I can't control how anybody receives it and I can't control any of the outputs coming back to me. So I woke up every day intentionally going what can I do to help someone or to show up in my best, uh, uh, best way possible, because nobody else is should be affecting who I am or what I am? They did behind closed doors, certainly, but those are the things and, in the world of entrepreneurship now, in the last 10 months, those lessons and how I practice that every day. It's amazing how much that is rewarded in the non-W2, non-corporate world.
24:22
To be that person and and and, by the way, like this is. I'm not saying this to receive anything, but a couple of days ago was my birthday, and every year you get those Facebook messages, you get random texts, you get all these things, and there was a lot of people that did reach out to me in the past. This is my first birthday as an entrepreneur. I could not believe the amount of not the amount of people, I could care less the amount, but the quality of messages that were sent to me on a day that I actually don't like. I don't like my birthday. It reminds me I'm not a day older, I'm a year older. It jumps and I can only think.
25:04
One of my joys is to look on Facebook every day, find out whose birthday it is, and hopefully I don't do this 365 days because life happens. But I try to reach out to as many people as I can, not on the Facebook, but either Facebook message or do I have their phone number and I text them. If I have an email, I'll email them because I know for a lot of people that day sucks. You know it's. It is not a day that maybe they're surrounded by love, or if they are surrounded by love, I want to be part of that crowd that surrounds somebody with love.
25:34
So it's those little things that take so little time that people remember, and I don't do it to remember me, but I do it because I know how it feels. It feels really good, and my whole my TED talk finishes with this statement you like people who affect you emotionally and make you feel good. You remember them. You become memorable if you're the person that goes oh. Every time I talk to that person, I feel better after than before. So I try to do my best to be that person that shows up for somebody when they didn't need, they didn't know that they needed that kick in the butt or that motivational sentence or speak or whatever it is. And I think birthdays, you know, for me is, is almost the least common denominator. It's the easy day to reach out to somebody, but if that's the only thing you're doing, you're doing it more than 99% of the people out there.
26:30 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah, and is that because your, you know, sort of network shifted more to this? You know kind of more the entrepreneurial crowd, the real estate people, Well, no, it shifted when I became a buyer.
26:44 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
So in television, you're essentially one of three. You're the agent which oversees all the transaction and gets people together and make things happen. You're the seller, you're the creation of product and you're selling to a buyer or the buyer. You're there, the ones that gets to take people's dreams and actually make it come true. And I always knew that.
27:04
Buyers I hated buyers. That's why I became a buyer. They didn't have a creative opinion. They felt like they were the man or the woman because of the seat that somebody gave them. I just I was like but we're all in it together, we all just want to make good content and reward good people.
27:21
So when I became a buyer, I said I never want to become a good buyer, meaning I don't want the stereotype, and I always said if my phone rings as a buyer, it's too late. So that's where things shifted to me is I wanted to be the buyer that would reach out to people, to be proactive, to help people, to help them really understand what we're doing. So they could win, because I got to sit in a seat that got to make people to help them really understand what we're doing. So they could win, because I got to sit in a seat that got to make people's dreams come true. It wasn't me, it was the seat, and what a blessing to be in that. So I really understood what it was like to give people opportunities that they had planned forever. Like some people dreamt from a baby or from a child of selling a television show, and I was in a seat that could make those dreams come true. So for me, I saw the response and that's really what has helped me as an entrepreneur is that no matter who you are or what you are, you can make dreams happen. It's just where are you within that process? So all of that really happened.
28:22
As a buyer, I really wanted to be the person who just doesn't look or smell like the stereotype or look like anything else.
28:31
And when I'm in these rooms of entrepreneurs in fact, I spoke at an engagement this weekend and the introduction was y'all probably have an understanding or thinking of what a television executive or producer or creative is cutthroat, egotistical, all the things because this guy is literally the opposite of all of that and that is an incredible thing for somebody not in the entertainment business to say that I was against the stereotype.
29:00
Now there's probably some things that I you know when you're among the five people closest to you that I was probably projecting. I was definitely not perfect at all, by any means, but I tried to not be the stereotype. I tried to be the person that I knew that my relationship was going to far. I wanted far to extend, much farther than the title that I was handed or the role or the seat. I wanted lifelong relationships and friends that, no matter where I was in the world, somebody could reach out to me and ask for help or I could reach out to them and ask for help myself. So it was more of the mindset going against the stereotype of the industry that I was in.
29:44 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah, no, that's. That's great. I mean, I remember being in that space as well and looking at the people who were really kind of high up, who'd been in the industry 20, 30 years, whatever.
29:55 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
Yeah.
29:56 - Preston Zeller (Host)
And just thinking and I was, I was really young to entering that space like 22 full time and just going man, is that, is that would I want to be? Is that the goal? You know, and all the other kind of just people you come across there?
30:14
yeah it does make you reevaluate. I mean, you know, family life was an interesting one too, because I mean obviously that especially in the production side. But so much of that world is like working to the bone, you know. It's like so much networking and schmoozing you have to do after.
30:35 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
I loved it though, yeah.
30:38
But I will tell you and here's the thing when you're in the industry and working for someone else, you are working to the bone. You never stop working. You don't have an identity, you don't have a personal brand, none of that. As an entrepreneur, you're choosing to work like crazy because you love what you do, the effort and that's the hustle. That is I'm doing everything. I'm doing as a entertainment executive everything, except it's different. I'm doing it for myself, I'm doing it for my family, I'm doing it for the real estate community, for the, the communities that need, uh, a house that is is refurbished and renovated. I'm doing it for people that, in a real estate transaction with over 50 people, get rewarded.
31:28
In a real estate transaction, there's a bigger purpose and that's what drives your hours and that's what drives your excitement is that there's a true purpose with what you're doing, versus responding to the daily activities of your job. And that's been the most not only rewarding. But I'm exhausted, I am mentally drained every single day, but when I wake up in the morning, after I get a good night's sleep, I am back to at an 11. I'm like let's go, you know, and by four or five o'clock I'm done, but I continue on. So it's. It's not so different, except it's entirely different, if that means anything.
32:11 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah, why? I think you you have those, um, I don't know, everyone has these things that get ingrained in them. You know along the way, whether it's you know the childhood stuff or whether it's you know your early work experiences. I, I mean, I wasn't in that industry that long, but there are some really great things I still learned along the way that you know. You kind of see, oh yeah, I picked up this quality. I mean, I think you know one of them is just I can work really really hard when I need to. You know one of them is just I can work really really hard when I need to. And I think, as you pointed out, when it's like you're just kind of shackled to this thing that you may not even really believe in but you have to put in the work, well, how much harder are you going to work for the thing that you are like all in on, which you know you're getting to do now? So let's go back to um. So you're at Fox 21,. You left there.
33:11 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
I think you went to A&E after that. Is that right? Yeah, so I went from Fox 21. I sold a couple projects to A&E and I get a call hey, would you ever like to move to New York?
33:19
And I said not in a million years not because Not because I knew nothing about New York, it was just my response I like warm weather, I like palm trees, I like the life of living in LA. And they said, okay, well, we'd like for you to come over to A&E. We need you to meet with a couple of people. And it's funny because my boss that I actually had the entire time I was A&E, I remember, because somebody else recruited me. But this was the boss meeting with me in LA and I could tell in the first 20 minutes she had no clue why she was meeting with me. And then something happened. I almost said something like in a way, like very tactfully, this was for the job that I think you guys have open. And something triggered her and she's like oh right, that's why I'm meeting with you, is because we want you to come over. Like it was the most bizarre transition, and maybe that's only my read, she may have a completely different read of it. And then she's like oh my God, I love you. Amazing, can you meet with the president? And I'm like sure.
34:28
So I met with the president and it was more about like I already had the job, which I didn't have, the job, but at least that's what I felt like in the meeting. So we were just basically talking what's going to be the first year of the job and how I could help this president. I'm like great. And then I remember distinctly I was in my house in Van Nuys or Lake Balboa, as now it's called because it's fancy Van Nuys was Lake Balboa and I was about to leave for the office and all of a sudden my phone rang, literally as I'm stepping out the door, and it was two people offering me the job and I literally was like, oh my God, my life completely changed with this phone call. Moving from LA to New York, becoming a buyer at a network I loved A&E. At that time my wife and I would watch Intervention all day long and that was one of the signature shows. I'm like I get to work for the network of a show that is literally near and dear to my wife and I.
35:29 - Preston Zeller (Host)
I get the offer, brad, real quick. You were on the sell side at box 21 and then buy side on at A&E. Okay.
35:38 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
I was moving to the other side of the table and I couldn't be happier, because that was what was missing on my resume was I was at the representation, I was a seller and creator and producer, and then now I'm a buyer and I felt like great, my career is complete. Now I can do anything that I want to do. After this experience and I worked it was a really hot network at the time it was really like A plus.
36:02
And this was like what year you went over there 2012 2012 okay yeah, this is before the streamers, before all the things, and it was, it was fantastic. And before I started I'm sitting at a hotel in la and like, hey, we want to get a meet with the showrunner of the first show that we want to put you, that we want to put you on, we want to put you on a show that's already up and running. So you kind of just learn how a network works and how I'm like great, and it was intervention. And I looked, I was like are you serious? The first show that I'm going to work on as a network executive is literally the show. As a network executive is literally the show.
36:45
And it was funny because intervention, if you don't know, intervention, it's all about drug addiction and there's a moment of the intervention where somebody basically needs to trade their entire life to get the help that they desperately need. It's one of the most incredible shows on television still to this day and I'm being handed oversight of this. So it's like meet the showrunner at this place to this day and I'm being handed oversight of this. So it's like meet the showrunner at this place, at this hotel, and it was a bar, and I'm like, can I drink with the showrunner of Intervention. And, sure enough, as soon as I get there, he already has a drink.
37:19
And I'm like and I told him, I'm like it was weird. Like meeting you for the first time, I didn't know I was going to order a club soda, you know, or something of that nature. He's like no, if you're on the show and you're exposed to everything that you're seeing, you're going to become a drinker. And I'm like, okay, don't say that out loud, that's not a good thing to say. I don't think. But I understand, and I didn't order a drink because I'm like it's just going to be too weird and I just wasn't comfortable at the moment. But yeah, that was the first show. And then, a couple months later, I'm moving across the country with a six month old child, which couldn't be more perfect, because they were basically just an appendage. You know that you could just throw over. She doesn't know any, so she's very proud that she was born in Santa Monica.
38:08 - Preston Zeller (Host)
She lived in Santa Monica.
38:15 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
Yeah, oh no, I was gonna ask so when did you meet your wife? So that's a whole story. Okay, the very quick story. It's funny that I'm now delivering keynotes, which is also crazy for me to speak on stages, because I used to be a speaker on television a lot, but it was to a room full of people that knew you and knew what you were saying. Now I'm on stages at marketing conferences and real estate conferences and I'm very new into these worlds. But I gave this speak this past weekend, um, and it was the first time on stage that I talked about my wife and talked about how I met her.
38:51
Um, bottom line is she was, and still is, my sister's best friend. I did not know her at all. We were living on opposite sides of the coast. They met my. My sister also went to the University of Michigan and met her through sorority.
39:09
I had gone on family trips because with her, my family, because she was my sister's best friend never in a million years. But she got really close with my family. She lived in LA, in Pasadena, from Pasadena, so during holidays she would come home to my family. I wouldn't, because I was living in LA and she got really close with my family and then one day we got a call and my grandmother was in a coma She'd never been sick was in a coma. She'd never been sick. She was older but not old. She was the matriarch of the Jewish community in Detroit and I remember hopping on a plane in LA flying to Detroit and I couldn't speak. We were very she was. We are very close and I go straight to the hospital.
40:12
Um, I went in to see and if you've ever seen somebody in a coma, they look nothing like themselves. Um, and I still can see it very vividly. I couldn't recognize the person and probably that was the best, because my memory of her alive is very different than I saw her. It was unrecognizable, but this woman was standing next to my grandmother and it was my sister's best friend and she was in the room with my grandma for 40 of the 48 hours that she was in a coma. She passed 48 hours in and two days later I gave the eulogy at my grandmother's wedding and my grandmother brought everybody out to the funeral. It was a who's who. It was really humbling to see how many lives my grandmother impacted.
40:59
And in the eulogy I thanked two people and I thanked one, my aunt, who was a nurse, and she helped us understand all of the medical things and what my grandmother was going through. And then I thanked this woman named Samantha. I don't know if I've ever said the word Samantha before and literally at that moment I still can remember. Everything changed when I said that name. Um, she did what our family could not do is say goodbye on our behalf. Um, that night she was sleeping at our house with my sister, you know. She was home and she was going to leave in a couple of days. Um, we ended up talking through the night, through the morning, and that was the first day of our relationship. Wow, um. And cut to a couple of years later, my grandfather, who's still said I'm not going to say this on this podcast, but don't F this up and how much my family loved her. And she, listen, I have my mother and my aunt, you know, are the daughters of her, but there was definitely a connection to this girl, samantha, and my grandmother.
42:25
Eventually we get married, have a kid and there was not a choice of what my child was going to be named and it was Charlotte. So my grandmother's name is Charlotte. My daughter's name is Charlotte grandmother's name is Charlotte, my daughter's name is Charlotte, and two and a half years ago literally no intention, it was completely random we ended up in Charlotte um, because of somebody else, like we weren't even supposed to be in Charlotte. And we saw Charlotte and we were like, within minutes, we said this is where we need to be. We lived in LA and New York our entire lives. We have a home in New York. We had a beautiful community. Within 24 hours, we're making offers on homes in Charlotte. I can look back on things and go. I know exactly why we're in Charlotte. I know exactly and it's because of her.
43:42
So that's the story and always reminded why you need to be memorable and not memorable for yourself, but because those that are memorable are the ones that have opportunities to help others.
43:54
So you're the one that people turn to to either get help or give help.
43:59
And she did that through a $2 bill, because a $2 bill you can give somebody a dollar bill. In Judaism there's a thing called tzedakah, where you give money to an individual and they travel and it's looked as protection for that individual, and then what you're supposed to do is give that dollar tzedakah to someone in need where you are, and my grandmother instilled that in me. But she gave a $2 bill, not a dollar bill, because a $2 bill is memorable. You don't spend $2 bills, you know you. There's always a story behind a $2 bill. It's rare it's perceived to be a lot more than a $2 bill, but you got to see if, yes, it's going to be $2. And that's the power of of being just slightly different to be $2. And that's the power of of being just slightly different. Be more memorable and be that one that that gives more than they receive ever, and always think of how you can give wherever you are in the world. So that's the long story of my grandmother and my wife.
45:00 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Fantastic story. I appreciate you sharing that. I, you know, I, um, yeah, I could tell there's a lot of, a lot of other things floating around in the background there. Uh, I'll kind of share some other stuff after this to relate there. But no, that's a very touching story.
45:20
But I was gonna going to ask you about that because sort of where you had that mentality going into, you know, a place like LA, because you know, you see this so many times right, where people go to a place like that, that is very cutthroat. It's the whole like shark. This is actually like a paper I wrote for my, like my internship. I did this is a shark eat shark. You know that's what it felt like there. But if you're not, if you're not grounded in, like you know who you are and you know in, like you know who you are and you know how you're going to treat people, you're just going to adopt all the, all what they do around you right, which, as you said, becomes this very self-serving. And I not la has always felt like this west coast, Washington dc to me where it's just you know it's a really good analogy yeah, they're the whole.
46:17
Like you know, you want a friend, get a dog right, that whole thing, so, um, anyways, but no, I, I, um has seeing you move through all that in such a um really tough industry and come out the other side, you know, have this really touching like grief story in the middle of that, uh, where you do meet love of your life and have your child and the connection from your grandmother to now the city where you live in is so, so amazing, um, I, you know. So today, um, I'm I'm sure we could probably turn this into a very long, long episode, but actually, if you want to like anything, you want to wrap up in that time period of A&E and then sort of your transition into real estate.
47:14 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
Yeah, so getting back on task, if you will, or at least on my task the purpose of no no no for real estate investors, right.
47:24
So this is pertain. So A&E had a long history of home shows. So flipping shows, buying and selling shows, ugly bathroom to pretty bathroom that's real estate on TV in a nutshell. But nobody really took care of it. It was shows that were Saturday mornings and it was an opportunity during the pandemic that our CEO saw and said, hey, why don't, if we are intent with this product that did really well financially, our intent with this product that did really well financially but creatively could have used some help. Let's get an executive to oversee this brand and this block.
48:04
And I've always been the one around the halls as, being a little bit entrepreneurial in nature and a little goes a long way in a corporate environment, I've always wanted to expand my remit. I didn't want to expand without getting paid for it, but, okay, sure, that's what happened, but I had an opportunity. So they're basically, you know, said hey, overtake the. In addition to everything you're doing, create the home block on A&E. I do very little about real estate. I had read Rich Dad, poor Dad. I knew very little about real estate. I had read Rich Dad, poor Dad. I think some of you may have read that book out there and I always had in my mind there is a different financial life for me. I don't know how it was gonna happen.
48:50
So this was my opportunity to really go into the real estate world and have basically a reason for the door to be opened. Because if I did not have television, I would be one of many, I would. There would be no different than me, than anybody else that's starting. But all of a sudden I had this thing that it would literally jump me into the front of the class. So I'm like, while you're here because I have no control of how long it's going to last open every door possible. Meet everyone, be that person that is so interested in what people do that they're like, wait a minute, you're not an entertainment person or the stereotype. And two, you really want to know. Of course I'll help you why? Because, selfishly, a lot of real estate investors want to be on TV.
49:33
I very much opened like, hey, listen, I have that opportunity for you Know that it literally is a needle in a haystack, so likely it's not going to happen. But I want to hear stories. I love hearing people's stories and the fact is real estate investors all have a story. There's all you don't outside of your background. I mean, you wouldn't even start in real estate and you had a real estate background in your own home. Most people don't. There's always a story that leads into real estate, so I had the blessing to bring that onto television. So I got into the doors and the first two people that I met were Pace Morby and Jamil Damji.
50:10
Two people that some of y'all may know. I had no clue who. They were no clue. And all of a sudden they're like these guys know how to flip homes in the Phoenix market. I'm like, okay, phoenix, I want to be in flipping. We need flipping shows. Um, their best friends, amazing Jamil's sister is their designer. Amazing Pace's wife is their agent. That's a television show. I have no idea what they do or how they do it or anything. So all of a sudden, I'm producing a show.
50:44
I am the dumbest person in the room in real estate. I asked the dumb questions. Pace and Jamil loved that this television Hollywood guy was asking dumb questions about real estate. Every time they answered my questions I was like, wait a minute, that's awesome. Wait what?
50:55
The more people that you help, the more opportunities you have. You have a growth mindset. There's a law of reciprocity. There's a law of abundance. Wait, all these people make money by doing this and I'm like why am I not doing it Like? This is crazy. So when one in the real estate industry is very much like this and I was this person?
51:20
In entertainment, everybody connects everybody with good people. So I kept getting connected to connected, to connected, to get it. One day I had a call from Grant Cardone literally show up on my phone call, on my, and I'm like, and I thought it was an assistant, and it was Grant. These are the people that I just am so lucky to be around, grant. These are the people that I just am so lucky to be around. So I had all of these ingredients of connections and I got to make unbelievable television shows with talent that weren't going hey, I want to be in TV Because those people have already kind of been through it. I got to be with the people that didn't want to be in TV. They were true investors, true entrepreneurs. They're like TV. I don't lose money by being on TV because it takes so much time but yet they did it because I offered a different approach. I offered the realness of what they do. I created shows bespoke to who they were and what they were. I was real as day. I was also interested in their world. I became a real estate, not investor, because I never did it while I was working. I did it after I worked.
52:24
But I wanted and my intent was to invest in real estate. So people want to help, people that want to be helped and could turn that help into action. Brent Daniels always says take messy action, you know, take imperfect action, and I wanted to do that. In entertainment, you don't take imperfect action. Imperfect action, you get fired. In real estate, you take one step forward. So it was just a beautiful opportunity.
52:52
And after doing this for almost three years creating this block, literally commissioning shows with people people would die to be around for a minute I'm now having these long-term relationships texted hours of the night, not for television, but just hey, how are you doing type things? I mean my Rolodex is stupid, like I don't deserve it, but I was the person that just was of service and was of help. And now that I'm now building my real estate business, that shift was really easy for me. I had all of the education in the world, but education without action is nothing. And that was the biggest shift for me Once I left the W2 world is I had no excuses whatsoever.
53:39
I had all every real estate investor on this planet I'm at least I'm one degree away from. I don't have relationship with all of them, but everybody's connected with everybody. I had all the resources, but I wasn't a real estate investor until I actually started doing it. And when I started doing it, all my questions changed, all my conversations with these investors change, because now I was doing the thing and they looked at me and like for two, three years you were in our communities, at our meetups, at our conferences and you were just the guy we like talk to. Now we're talking to you about actually doing the thing. You are literally now taking action. We want to help you even more than we said we did, because now we're helping you through what we did 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago. So I owe everything to my former network, my former company, that without the opportunity they gave me to oversee all these home shows, I would never be in a place today. And I tell everybody that's getting out in real estate, you have to take action. You can be on every call which I am, every community which I am, but nothing ever happened until I actually started doing it. And it's scary. It's crazy to make my first offer to be in negotiation, to get my first offer accepted, to get finances, to then oversee a flip to working with contractors, designers, agents, all not um, it's through.
55:07
Batch Jamil put me on a live call, um, calling sellers in the Las Vegas market. I'd never called sellers before and he knew that I did not want to ever talk to a seller and through Batch he had me call homeowners looking potentially. That showed some pain points and it was the scariest thing because there was at least like 300, 400 people on this live. But guess what, after the first one, 400 people on this live, but guess what, after the first one, like, wait a minute, what's the worst thing? They hang up the phone. What's the best thing? It's the call that they didn't know, that they that would change their lives, and that's every call. I was like this is the. They're on this list for a reason. They are looking for my help and I have the tools to help them.
56:01
That shifted everything. But I would never. I know I heard that, but until I did it, that's what changed everything. So for me, whatever you could have a W2 job, which a lot of newer investors are in or not, you just have your. Your mindset is everything. When you get into this business, you have to learn from every failure. Um, you either learn you. You either win or learn. You never lose. You never lose in this business. Um, you're always turning those um, maybe slight step backs or set back, step set backs and, frankly, yes, I had a front seat, unlike most, but you show gratitude, you show that you are of service. Every real estate investor will open their door for those people that show action after you help them.
56:55 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah, no, that's, that's a pretty a trippy full circle. Um so, what triple digit flip and what were?
57:04 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
the other ones yeah. Oh boy, I mean, I'm going to forget them. Um so, triple digit flip was my first original commission. Um, I expanded zombie house flipping. Um, that was, that was the asset that already existed. We had 24 hour flip, which was a couple in New Jersey that flipped homes in 24 hours. Mm hmm, crazy, unbelievable. It was all real, 100% real.
57:30 - Preston Zeller (Host)
That was the brand. Yeah, I've actually wondered. I'm like really 24 hours.
57:36 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
You. I have a picture of their schedule and I could not, and every hour they meant to kept updating this and there's a whole business purpose with it. 50-50 Flip, which is Dedrick and Crystal Polite out of Burlington, north Carolina. They're the best Million Dollar Zombie Flips which just premiered last week with James Danard in Seattle. That's my boy, he is unreal. That show just premiered. It's 11 am. Eastern and Pacific on A&E Probably the best show that I've ever been a part of in the home space, next to Dedrick and Crystal Polite, next to Dolmar Pretty fantastic shows. Lots of buying and selling shows like 48 hours to buy so people have 40 hours to buy a house. Oceanfront property hunt where people in Canada with ocean views. You can actually afford a house with an ocean view in Northeastern Canada if you want to survive 10 months out of the year in freezing cold weather. Two months are beautiful and amazing. That was my joke, I'm like sure, of course that's why property is available.
58:41
Yes, exactly Because the weather is not great, but the views are amazing and there was a whole host, a lot of I mean at least a couple, maybe 300 hours of television in the home space I produced. And what was so amazing of doing all these flipping shows, which, on the shows, I'm responsible for the format, the creation of what the show is, commissioning the show and then each episode, approving the house and the story with the house, production goes film and then I'm film it and then I'm responsible for the oversee of the edit once the episode has come together. So every house that's on television I approved. So I have been day zero of all of these distressed properties. So I really got to understand what made a great house, not just for television but for them, for the investor. What were they looking to get into? What was their renovation? What type of renovation? What was their ARV? How much money did they make it versus make.
59:40
So I got true education. So when I got my first house, I walked in I literally jumped like and almost hit my head in the ceiling because it smelled like it was the dog pee and the cat pee was so horrific. But all I could smell was money, all I could smell was opportunity. And I literally called up my real estate friends and I'm like I got my TV house. I got my TV house. I'm like they're like what? They didn't know that I was actually doing the thing. And I'm like, oh, I'm actually flipping. I can't believe I'm flipping, but I got my house, I got my house, I got my house, you know, and it was really that moment and this was only eight months ago, I'm not in this very long but I dove in, I dove into the deep end, not knowing if I could swim. But God, I love figuring it out right now. So, yeah, it's been a quick transition, but definitely lots of years in the making.
01:00:39
And now, once you do it and I think a lot of investors out there can say it once you do your first, you've got to quickly do your second, because your second is harder than the first. But then, once you do your second, you're a real estate investor. And then you're just going to keep going and keep going, but you've got to get past the first two. The first one is hard, but you've got to get past the first two One. The first one is hard, but you can find it. You're likely not going to make money. You're going to make all these mistakes. And then the second one is really hard, because now you know things. But after the second one, the third one, the fourth, the fifth, the 10th, the 50th, you're going to lose count at some point. So you got to start.
01:01:19 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah. So what's interesting? I think you're actually downplaying your experience a bit, because you said you're only in it 10 months, right, but you've spent you know kind of years being immersed in a you know, maybe unknowingly at first to some degree, but then you know. But, like you said, I mean I, I fully agree, um, you know. Like you said, I mean I, I fully agree. Um, you know that taking action that's always the common thread is just, you know, um, you're not going to take a parked car anywhere, right? So, yeah, you know, take, take the action and be okay with the. The screw-ups ask the stupid questions. You know all that kind of stuff. So you know where are you? You're 10 months into the actually doing the business. What are your plans for the foreseeable future?
01:02:10 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
Yes.
01:02:10
So my plan is to flip 10 to 12 a year and that is a stretch goal I live by. I'm a baseball player, so if there is a ball slightly out of reach and you dive for it, if you don't dive at all, you're going to miss all of them out of 10 times. But if there's a ball slightly out of your reach and you dive and you catch one or two, that's more than you ever thought. So I really believe in stretch goals, because even the act of that means that you're you're jumping ahead. So can I do 10 to 12 this year? Absolutely Will I. I don't know, but that's more than maybe two, three, four that I probably would think I would be doing. So for me, I'm gonna flip. Why am I flipping? I have a plan where flipping is going to replace my W-2 income.
01:03:04
So I am very fortunate that my house I bought my house in Charlotte as an investor, meaning I wanted to walk into equity. Now I would lie if it was for real estate reasons. It was really, because if I hated Charlotte, I would have equity in my house and I could sell it. Not for a loss, it was really true and, by the way, jamil is the one that helped me buy it. He helped me put a clock on it and all these things and we worked it out. God bless the fact that I did not. I overpaid because of the market but I underpaid based on what was happening within this community. So I walked into instant equity. That further increased because Charlotte's a growing market and that money I took out of HELOC and that is what I'm using for my investment money. So my goal is for how many homes do I flip in a year to replace my previous W-2 income?
01:04:03
How can I create a business that is scalable, that also allows me to do other things? So I, because I don't want to renovate on site I don't Unintentionally. My homes are at least an hour away from my house. What does that mean? I'm not there every day. In fact, I've been to the houses three and six times and I'm going tomorrow to both homes, because one it should be final punch list day, we're taking pictures on Monday, and the other we're two weeks out. So there's a rule like 10-80-10 rule. That's the Steve Jobs rule. He's involved in the first 10% and the last 10% and the 80% pretty much everybody else does. That's been my philosophy within the real estate world because of my expertise. So I'm at the back 10% on these couple of things. So that's the means to the end.
01:04:54
Right now is a cash business is how can I get income replacement so that everything I do is above and beyond? And I've got lots of other businesses that I'm creating but that's going to quickly turn into something that I really do believe in and it's affordable housing. And affordable housing for me my outlet is through co-living and co-living, if you don't know, is you take a single family house and you break it into individual rooms, so a three bed, two bath very much could turn into an eight bed, four bath home and what you're doing is you're providing an affordable roof over their head. It's beautifully renovated. I find distressed properties will renovate it to this model and then people purchase by room and the room rate is generally a third to a half of the market rate for a one bedroom. So in Charlotte it's about two grand right now a month for a one bedroom apartment. The going rate for this is 750 to 800 a night. What I didn't tell you about the two grand is plus utilities, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus the co-living model. That's one check a month and it's one check, includes utilities, includes wifi, includes everything all in. So when you look at eight beds in a single family house, times 750, all of a sudden you're grossing six grand a month. You know 5,500 to 6,500 a month. Minus all of your expenses you're cash flowing about a grand to two grand a month. So from a finance perspective it's great, but really it's the affordable housing.
01:06:27
The fact that a working class individual cannot afford a housing in America today near a downtown area. This model does that. It's not for everybody, but I love living in a dorm in college. I love being in a fraternity. I love living in an apartment. Apartment has other people in it. So I love community and what we're setting up these homes as true communities. There's workshops, financial literacy workshops, there's sports, there's game nights, there's it's it's a lot of activities that immerse you into this culture, because all of the people in the house chose to be there. They chose this model.
01:07:06
Through the interview process you kind of weed out those that are just in it because it's a cheap house people. You want the people that. I need this because I don't want to worry about the biggest line item per month. I don't want to worry about your housing expenses, your biggest line item. What if you didn't have to worry about that? How much more could you do in your life? How much more could you do for the community, for yourself, for your family? It would be crazy. So that, for me, is my future.
01:07:36
Right now I'm looking for properties that essentially it's the Burr method. I can buy low, I can renovate, add value and then ideally, get all my money out, because right now I am not in a place that I would like to keep capital inside a property. But for me, this is when real estate made sense to me, when the mission is bigger than the dollar. That's when it clicked for me. And the way real estate made sense to me when the mission is bigger than the dollar, that's when it clicked for me. And the way real estate works, I believe the bigger your mission is, the bigger your checking account is. That's how, for me, this industry works. So if I'm flipping homes, there's really not that purpose. Now. My purpose is affordable housing and bringing communities back. So there is an attention, but it's a transaction still at the end of the day, whereas co-living is a relationship. It's a relationship that I want these people living as long as they can at that price, until they can then afford that house themselves. And now I can help them get into real estate, investing in home ownership. And they are owning now the home which they either can live in and house hack, or they are now an owner of a co-living property, which my intent is to work with local banks and credit unions to provide that offering to individuals that live in the house so that 12 months, 24 months, they're building a runway so that they can then become an investor themselves.
01:09:00
I believe home ownership is what everybody should be doing. It literally. I could not leave my W-2 career if I did not own a home. I would not be able to do it. And I believe that there is such a debate of home ownership versus renting and it's cheaper to rent than own. That's a short-term thinking. You've got to think long-term. Long-term, it's always better to own. And if I can be the one that gets you into your first home, if I can be the one that helps you on the path to home ownership because I provide you an affordable roof over your head, that's the mission I'm on. So I again I'm I say I'm only 10 months in because in my head. I want to be 10 years down the road.
01:09:42
I really believe in what I'm saying. I see it every day and Charlotte's a beautiful market. Every market needs this type of mission. Everybody needs this idea that affordable housing should be part. You can have your luxury houses, you can have your beautiful amenity-driven apartment buildings, but you should also provide amazing homes for somebody that is in transition. A working class wants to be closer to a. If you're a waiter or waitress, a higher wage, but you don't have to drive an hour because you're in it. If you want to be a firefighter or police officer, live in the community you serve. You can't afford it on those salaries. But what if you can buy this housing? So there's a true mission in place and that is a hundred percent. The stages that I will stand on in 10 years will only be talking about this Today not so much, but my future is how can I be a change maker? For I believe and I'm very biased with this is the biggest problem that we have in the country today is affordable housing.
01:10:50 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah, no. Well, thank you for laying all that out. I mean, I think it'll be great to follow your journey along this way. Who knows, you may have your own show on Haney at some point.
01:11:04 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
I tried. There's a couple other people doing it and I've developed that show. The key to television in the home space is the transformation to television in the home space is the transformation. So nobody right now is turning, and here's the mantra that my friend, who's a television producer, says. So I'm stealing his line. Television works in the home space when it's crappy to happy. That's what works. So people in the co-living space and the pad split space aren't really doing it. They're turning turnkey style or cosmetic rehabs into this space, but nobody literally is turning a distressed property, a zombie house, into a co-living property. So, yes, there is an opportunity because I'll be the one that does that. Do I want a television show? Absolutely not. Does that. Do I want a television show? Absolutely not. I know, I know what it takes, I know how it is, I love inspiring and motivating. But boy, the life of a to be on a television show is rough. I want to be the one that gives people that opportunity.
01:12:11 - Preston Zeller (Host)
Yeah, yeah, you know, I think people can glamorize, glamorize it a lot, but when you're on set, you're like a little waiting around and yeah, boring, boring, yeah. Brad, where can people find you to just see what you're up to and follow your journey?
01:12:32 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
Yeah, I post Monday through Friday on YouTube. A lot of it is how to become that memorable person in your market, the power of a hook, what separates you from the sea of same. It's everything that I've done in television for my entire career. We had to wow an audience within 30 to 60 seconds. You have to do the same in every industry. In fact, most people have eight seconds to have somebody decide if they want to be in business with you. So I talk a lot about what I did in television and what you can do in your career. So YouTube is my primary place. It's if you just search Holcman I'm the only Holcman out there H-O-L-C-M-A-N. And then every day on all my socials I post. LinkedIn is my primary source outside of YouTube. Just follow my name and then my Instagram page, which has a cute little story. At some point somebody is going to tell a social media strategist is going to tell me you've got to change it, but until then, it's Brad Needs Abs. It's Brad Needs Abs. Why was that?
01:13:39
I've always had the desire to have abs, never wanted to work for it, and before the pandemic I got involved in Peloton, the bike that goes nowhere. I worked 15 minutes from the Peloton studio Before Peloton was big. I would go in on my lunch break and take a ride, and if y'all know about in-studio cycling generally, it is a 22 year old male or female that is in a studio. I was not a 22 year old male or female that has a chiseled body, and in Peloton they taped everything and broadcast it out to the country. So I like to have fun when on the inside I'm not. It's a hard workout, so I would lip sync every song imaginable. They called me a celebrity and the person who anointed that word, um.
01:14:37
Her name is Allie Love. She's now an NBC Today Show correspondent and also still works at Peloton. She had abs. I mean, it was like the sickest abs in the world. It was the most amazing thing, um, so I named my name after her. Brad needs Allie's abs Got a little bit of, got a little bit weird. Needs Ali's abs got a little bit of, got a little bit weird. Um, so I just so it was suggested. Um that maybe I just changed it to my need. Um and Brad's needs apps was born. Um, so that's my Instagram handle.
01:15:10 - Preston Zeller (Host)
All right, well, uh, look you up there, uh, thanks. Thanks, Brad, so much for coming on the show. Um, really, um looking forward to, yeah, seeing what the future holds for you.
01:15:23 - Brad Holcman (Guest)
Absolutely. Thank you, uh Preston. Thank you to the entire batch family. Um, I really appreciated uh all of what you've done in the past and and excited for what's to come in the future.
01:15:33 - Hope (Announcement)
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