The Capital Flow Podcast

How Lux Locker Raised $100M+ and Built a Premium Storage Brand Across 7 States

• Dallon • Episode 22

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The hardest part about raising capital isn’t finding money, it’s earning enough trust that investors offer it.

Learn what’s working right now to attract investors, accelerate trust, and raise capital on autopilot.

Join our FREE Weekly Capital Flow Workshop→ https://capitallystpro.io/workshop

The Capital Flow Podcast helps capital raisers and fund managers create flow in their capital, business, and life by learning from those who’ve built systems that attract resources instead of chasing them. Each week, host Dallon Schultz interviews real capital raisers and industry experts who share the strategies, systems, and stories behind raising millions with trust based relationships.

In this episode, Dallon Schultz sits down with Pete Pakes, Chief Investment Officer of Lux Locker, to unpack how his team helped shape the large premium storage asset class and raised more than $100 million over the last decade. Pete shares how Lux Locker began as a side hustle in Lake Havasu, then expanded into seven states by combining site selection, strong branding, operational discipline, and a clear trust building process with investors.

For capital raisers, this conversation is full of practical lessons on why execution matters more than ideas, how brand consistency accelerates credibility, and why trust cannot be rushed. Pete also explains how Lux Locker improved investor engagement by using a simple VSL to re-engage current investors and owners, creating more conversations without relying on constant one on one follow up.

To learn more, visit Lux Locker at luxlocker.com and click the Investor tab to watch their future investor VSL.

Sponsor Spotlight
This episode is brought to you by Brad Blazar and Capital School, the Elite Program for Capital Raisers that are looking to scale their business or real estate. 👉 Learn more or access the special offer here: https://go.bradblazar.com/apply-page

Key Takeaways

  • Trust is built through process, not pressure. 
  • Brand consistency compounds. Lux Locker’s reputation, culture, and recognizable presence helped turn a niche concept into an investable business.
  • Execution creates credibility. Raising serious capital became easier once Pete’s team had completed projects and could prove the concept worked beyond Lake Havasu.

Resources Mentioned

  • Lux Locker website and future investor VSL at luxlocker.com
  • The “trust timeline” concept for nurturing investors before making an ask
  • Lux Locker Top 10, Pete’s internal site selection and due diligence framework

Capitallyst Pro Resources:
Weekly Capital Flow Workshops → https://capitallystpro.io/workshop
Email Deliverability Checklist → https://capitallystpro.io/email
ChatGPT Copywriter SOP → https://capitallystpro.io/copy

Legal Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice, nor is it a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities. The hosts and guests share personal experiences and general insights about raising capital compliantly; however, every situation is unique, and compliance with securities laws depends on specific facts and circumstances. Listeners and viewers should seek their own qualified legal, tax, and financial counsel before taking any action. The hosts and production team disclaim any liability for decisions made based on the content of this program.


SPEAKER_00

If you try to bypass things to get to your end goal without learning the process, when it goes wrong, you won't know where to correct.

SPEAKER_01

Welcome back to another episode of the Capital Flow podcast. Got a really good friend with us here, Pete Pakes with Lux Locker. We actually just met a couple months ago and in Texas, and we both happen to live in Arizona. So super cool. But really excited to get into today's episode. Pete is the chief investment officer at Lux Locker. They're in seven different states. They've raised well over$100 million over the last 10 years for their projects and for their ventures in the luxury storage space. And Pete, you shared with us, we'll get more into it, but you were really one of the pioneers in this space. So really looking forward to getting into just your story, how you guys got to where you were and how you positioned yourself to be able to attract that amount of capital. So Pete, appreciate you joining us tonight.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I appreciate it. Thanks, Dallan. Um I we weren't we weren't the pioneers. The pioneer was uh a gentleman that was in Lake Havasu that started building these things back in the 70s. But what we did is is I guess we pioneered taking the model outside of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. So that's what we we we saw a massive gap in this type of space. Um so it it's kind of a quick story. We started um building storage back in 2015, and we did it for selfish reasons. We needed space for ourselves. And at the time we owned a title company and a mortgage company. My brother and I did. We both uh co-founded the company. Um and it was crazy. We made so much money in our first little uh deal, uh side hustle, I'll call it. Um we're like, man, we gotta we we need to pay a little more attention to this asset class. And uh we decided to make uh Lux Locker a uh a real brand and company and focus solely on that starting in 2018. Um so it's been a it's been a wild ride, and we've we've had a lot of fun doing it too.

SPEAKER_01

So let's let's get into a a little bit more of what Lux Locker is and this this specific asset class. So you mentioned Lake Havasu. When people think of Arizona, they think of Phoenix. So share with our listeners a little bit about Lake Havasu, because it's it's a gem in Arizona that most people aren't aware of. It is a gem and how that led to Lux Locker.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. No, great question. So Lake Havasu is a town of about 60,000 people. It's kind of an oasis, just out in the middle of nowhere, uh, about two hours south of Las Vegas and three hours west of here on the Colorado River. And um uh it's a there's a high concentration of high net wealth individuals that are semi-retired or retired, and they have a lot of stuff. About 60 percent, maybe 50 percent of the homes have RV and boat garages attached to them, but yet there's still 6,500 uh we call them now instead of luxury storage, premium store, large premium storage units in Lake Havasu City itself. I don't even think there's that much in Maricopa County combined. So um it's quite uh odd from a from a ratio perspective, but um the the the model was proven out there. And um so Lake Havasu, we're still headquartered there. Uh the majority of our employees reside there, and uh we're gonna stay there for the foreseeable future until we have to move to a big city like uh Phoenix to make that a new hub for us.

SPEAKER_01

And these these aren't just your typical drive-up storage units, 10 by 20s, these aren't your your RV canopies, these are fully enclosed large units where people are storing their class A RVs and and their boats. And fun fact for Lake Havasoo, I didn't know this until a few years ago, the nursery rhyme, London Bridge, has fallen down. The London that bridge was actually imported and brought over to Lake Havasu. And you can actually you can actually walk across it, drive across it. So it's a fun fact for our listeners. So if you ever want to see the the OG London Bridge, it's right here in Arizona. You don't have to go to London for it.

SPEAKER_00

So I think somebody told us it's the uh maybe the second or the third most visited attraction uh in Arizona behind the Grand Canyon, which is which blows me away because I drive by it uh twice a day. Yeah. So and probably don't look at it most of the times, but it is kind of fascinating to see that there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um yeah, we love Lake Havasu.

SPEAKER_01

So you said this started as a side hustle for you and your brother. Talk to us a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00

Well, um so in our uh early years, we started in business together, Adam and I did in 2005, and we created the mortgage company. Um mortgage kind of went kaput in 2008. Um and so we got creative and started uh figuring out how we could buy mortgages back off of the secondary market uh on Wall Street. We did that for several years and created a title company because we were spending so much money with title companies to handle our transactions, uh, and that was in 2014. But we always raised capital in in in smaller increments to um procure tranches of defaulted mortgages. Okay. So we had capital raising experience, but um uh when we started our first storage facility, I we used uh some of our money, but used some close investors that we had long relationships with to raise the rest of the equity, got a small loan from our local bank, literally was uh it was a mom and pop operation, and um built the facility and I think we netted a million dollars. Uh, you know how hard it was up to that point or prior to that to make that kind of money, and it that was done in a year. And that's when we decided, wow, we need to take a closer look at this because I think um we're we're we're missing a demand on an asset class, uh, whether it's in Lake Havasu proper or anywhere in the country. Um let's really dive in and critically think on what the true um addressable market is for this type of asset class. And uh again, it's an easy concept, but it's not easy to execute uh because there's a lot of things that that go into a development, obviously. But uh yeah, I mean that's how it all started.

SPEAKER_01

So let's let's talk about that a little bit because you guys started in Lake Havasu, and now you're in seven different states, almost eight. You're getting ready to to enter your eighth state. That doesn't happen, obviously, overnight. Right. So knowing that this is a more unique premium storage product, share with our listeners how you go about finding those types of markets that you feel like this would really accelerate in.

SPEAKER_00

Uh that that it that's probably the most important question that you're gonna ask me. And you don't know that. Picking the site is is the most important, picking the right site. Um, and early on, probably from 2018 to let's call it 2022, okay, uh, we considered ourselves the Field of Dreams company. If we build it, they will come. Um, it worked early on and then it didn't. Okay. And um we needed to come up with a um a uh uh a good system uh that picks good zip codes and good pieces of property where we can predict the complete outcome on the units that we decide to sell individually as condos and the units that we decide to keep as rentals. We want to know exactly what we're gonna sell them for and what we're gonna rent them for. And we created that system on a BI tool. I think you and I have talked about this before, and we created our own AI generator to be able to bring in a ton of data that A is out there in the universe, and B data that we've purchased, right, from insurance companies, from um uh different different agencies that have different uh material. And I know that you talked about RVs and boats. I was telling Paul. That uh asset that goes into our units is actually declining, and the one that's growing the fastest is business inventory and business goods. Um interesting, along with car collections. And those are our two fastest growing uh users, whether they're buyers of the units or renters of the units. So um creating that tool is extremely important in implementing the data for small businesses, you know what I mean, for their inventory or stock or whatever they need the space for, right? Um in implementing that data into our site uh tool, it's called the LTT, Luxlocker Top 10. So we'll we'll create a top 10 list in a state on basically low-hanging fruit on areas that we're gonna know exactly what that outcome is going to be.

SPEAKER_02

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

And um, yeah, maybe sometime we'll be able to demonstrate straight it to folks that want to see it working. But it's it's a pretty um it's a pretty crazy.

SPEAKER_01

My next question is how do you license that thing? Because I'm sure there's other people that that could really benefit from that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'm I'm not gonna name any industry uh leaders, but there's one um uh um due diligence tool that leads the industry by far for the self-storage industry. Okay. And they have so tried so many times to get our data because um there's not a lot of data in the asset class that we have not not necessarily created, but that have moved it out of Lake Havasu into other parts of the yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You've been able to replicate it and scale it. That is correct. That's what you yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And so there's not a lot of data out there. So if you if you Google how do you build a Lux Locker or how do you build a large premium storage facility, there's just that's why it's not institutionally backed. Remember, we talked about that. Um Yet. Yet. Oh no, it will be. Just like storage wasn't institutionally backed 15, 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_01

Why would somebody why would somebody everybody has basements, sheds, why would somebody pay for storage?

SPEAKER_00

Right. So it's coming quickly. I believe we're still in the first or second inning of the growth of this asset class. And um probably most importantly, Dallin, is that you can never replace space.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Right? The AI, which I love, by the way, is not going to replace or redefined what we build.

SPEAKER_01

So and we as use humans, we're especially Americans, we're consumers. Right. We like to collect. So store, especially in Arizona, there's not storage in these homes. I grew up back east in New York, everybody had a basement. The basement was the playroom and the storage room. So in Arizona, there's not a lot of that. And then when you have these people that are a lot of small businesses are growing, and the inventory you said is is a big piece, a big renter, renting piece, and then car collections, that's interesting. What do you think it is that's that that's been attracting car collectors? I guess the space.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So when we figured out, and I'm gonna share one of the secrets, which I don't mind sharing with everybody, because it takes execution, right, to be successful. Um, when we figured out that we needed to be positioned in close proximity to high-end HOA communities, okay, we love those high-end builders. Okay. So builders make money off of livable square footage. They don't make money off of garage space. And why we love them so much is because they build these big, beautiful 3,500 to 5,500 square foot homes with these dinky two and three car garages, right? So somebody who can afford a million to a$3 million home typically can afford to own more than one or two cars and a couple of bicycles, right? Yeah. So being strategically located in close proximity to those communities allows us to predict the outcome on what our facilities are going to do from a lease up perspective and from a sales perspective.

SPEAKER_01

At what point did you and your brother decide, hey, let's let's take this outside of Arizona?

SPEAKER_00

In 2017, we made that decision, and that's when we created the brand and went live with the brand, Lux Locker in 2018, early 2018. Um it's funny, our brand has not changed. The logo hasn't changed, but the letters underneath it have changed. We started out as Lux Locker, Luxury RV and boat storage. Um, interesting story. Um very quick. A lady called me up and said, Pete, I want to store my car, but I was hesitant to call you because it said RV and boat storage, so I almost didn't call you. And that that hit me. I'm like, man, when you get super descriptive on your brand, then you're leaving out the businesses, the household goods, the cars, the you know what I mean? Um uh bulk inventory. Um so we had to quickly change.

SPEAKER_01

That's ironic because it's not uncommon for businesses to not be clear enough on their message on who they serve and how they serve. But you guys were so clear unintentionally that people thought other things didn't qualify.

SPEAKER_00

That is correct.

SPEAKER_01

So what is it now?

SPEAKER_00

It is Lux Locker, okay, premium storage, or just Lux Locker in our descriptors are large premium storage. So it's premium storage. Yeah. Some of it's climate controlled, some of it isn't, right? There's different sizes for different uses. Um, and uh we are uniform across all of our locations. So if you look at one of our locations, you're gonna know that it's a Lux Locker. Um, and we've created very high standards for our facilities so that the experience is the same across the board.

SPEAKER_01

That's one thing I've I've noticed a lot about just connecting more with you over these last few months and and getting to know more people on your team. There's there's a feel, there's a vibe that that people get when they come across to you, and that is your brand, right? It's how people feel, it's their experience, it's their perception. What have you guys done over the last few years to really solidify that and how people view Luxlocker?

SPEAKER_00

You know, it we have a wonderful team. So there's 25 now um full-time employees that work for us, and we have many third parties, right, that support us. Um and the majority of them actually wrote a check to buy ownership of the company. Wow. So the majority of our employees are operating the company and and working great as a as a team synergistically as owners, right? Because they are. And when you have that mindset, the um uh the there there are no there are no massive um constraints with personnel. Everybody's rowing in the same direction, you're in the same boat, everybody's working towards the same goal, there's a clear vision and mission. Um, and uh that makes a big difference. And even the employees that don't have ownership feel a sense of ownership, right? Because of the culture that's within the company. So I can tell you our culture is really what drives our growth. Okay. Um Adam and I are not the smartest guys on planet earth, okay? But what we do uh a lot of is ask questions, right? Um, curious ones, and try to figure out, you know, what can we learn? What can we learn? Not what we can teach, yeah, but what can we learn so that we can just restate uh what some brilliant team member on our team just said so that everybody can hear what they said.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's simplifying, taking things down, simplifying, being able to communicate with the team. And that obviously goes into the brand as well. And we've experienced this on our end. It's it's difficult to find the right people that fit into that culture. And we've brought some people on, and within a few weeks, we've had to let them go. Yep, unfortunately. But we're at a point where no matter who connects on our team, whoever people connect with on our team, they're gonna experience a similar feeling, a similar vibe, because that goes into that culture. Now, it's very interesting. You said a lot of these employees you have, some of them actually wrote a check to be invested in Deluxe Locker. Was that by design? Was that something that that you guys had had intended to do from the beginning?

SPEAKER_00

Not at all. Um we uh had partners that exited and had an opportunity for people to replace them, and the employees uh some of them came to us and said, um, can we have an opportunity to buy in with these shares that are gonna become vacant? So you didn't even present it. We didn't they're the ones that came to you. We we we did. And then we created a process to present to the rest of the employees. So uh I think people when you're in it every day, Dallin, you don't understand until somebody pokes some prods at you what what opportunity we truly have in front of us. Yeah. And I'm not trying to sell you, but I've been in business, I'm 57 years old, okay, and I've been working since I was 16, okay. Um people don't understand an opportunity because you're usually stuck in an in a uh in a business environment where you're fighting for market share. How many people have you ever talked to that get an opportunity to make the market? I've never had that opportunity. The until Lux Locker. So this is the first time in my life that I've got an opportunity to make a market, right? Create the standard for that asset class, right? And uh perform well, execute, and uh I don't even know if I'll have to defend brilliantly, but defend brilliantly, right? So I any other business that I've ever worked in, the phone company, title, mortgage, how many other competitors are there out there, right? So um when people ask, who are you who's your competition? Um ourselves. It is. It really is. Um there are other people that are doing what we're doing and it's more on a one-off basis. Uh you've seen it here in Phoenix. Yeah. Um and then there's some really good companies that do, you know, slightly different concepts than what we do, this type of space, um, that are scaling and they fit a different a different need. But uh I'm just grateful that we get the opportunity to create an asset class that will one day become institutional. It will.

SPEAKER_01

It will. And you and I have talked a lot about this too, because these these condo units that that you sell off, people are coming in and paying cash for those.

SPEAKER_00

95% of our buyers are cash buyers.

SPEAKER_01

And what's the average sales price of one of those condo units?

SPEAKER_00

About 150,000.

SPEAKER_01

150,000. I mean, there that's as much as some homes in some areas of the country. So people I I've heard this in the storage space and almost in every asset class, like the the survivability of it, right? And you and I haven't had these conversations. The people purchasing these units or renting these units, they're at a different level, they're at a different spot in their life, which you and I understand actually creates more security for this type of asset class. So share with us your thoughts around that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so um it's funny, we've got a demographic that are unit owners, so we'll split this into two categories. Unit owners and unit renters. Because the the the psychographic for each is completely different. Okay. Unit owners are typically um not ultra high net wealth, but high net wealth individuals that have a lot of stuff. Okay. And they need a secure space to store their stuff. And what we've learned is uh some really smart guys that have purchased our units is that they want to purchase their house to live in, not to store stuff. And when you start building large storage on your home, and if you have to sell that home one day, you've now pigeonholed yourself into somebody who wants that huge storage attached to the home, right? Um so instead of doing that, they look at our asset to fill that gap, that storage gap that they need. Um and so it's people that are worth I don't know, a half a million to a million, all the way to we've got several billionaires that own units in our facility. But what's in common is that the unit uh being owned is used as a utility to solve a problem. Period. Right? It's not discretionary necessarily. It is literally solving a problem for that person. Uh the renter, on the other hand, um, it doesn't matter what their economic demographic is, it's solving a huge problem for them. And typically it's um they aren't allowed to park anything in their community, or a business doesn't have enough room in their back room and they need extra space for inventory. So um, but they're more worried about what it costs versus what it's protecting or what it's saving. A renter does. So um, yeah, they're very different, but they're both very important to our business.

SPEAKER_01

And your your model shifted more recently, right? Before you build the cell, right. And now you're doing taking more of a hybrid approach. So share with our listeners a little bit about what you guys are doing now.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Uh we decided that instead of building everything and selling it completely off individually as condos, and all we had was the common areas at the end of the day. Um, we saw how much money our owners were making on leasing their own units out. Okay. And it was staggering.

SPEAKER_01

So paid by the unit, and then they would lease it out.

SPEAKER_00

They would lease it out, and we're like, holy smokes. Okay. But what what we also looked at was is is it feasible in this interest rate environment, right, to build rental product? And it wasn't. It just was not. Uh it it required rental rates to make it pencil that were just probably above what the market would bear. But we figured out that if we sell off the high-end units, the units to get a massive premium, because the buyers of those units don't care what the cap rate is. They're buying it for their own stuff, right? That the sales of those units would extinguish all of the construction debt and leave us with about 45% of the total square footage, which is usually about 60% of the unit count because those rental units are smaller, right? It would leave us with those units free and clear. Wow. So an unlevered uh yield-on cost for those units owned free and clear, we're in the low to mid teens. Well, you and I both know you you've been in the the multifamily sector. Um uh you're you're lucky to get a six or a seven cap on those if you're lucky, right? With the interest rate environment and everything.

SPEAKER_01

Usually like six and seven caps are properties you don't typically want to buy.

SPEAKER_00

Right, right. But but it's uh Hey Dallin here.

SPEAKER_01

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SPEAKER_00

Now let's get back to the show. But being able to reduce your basis significantly from units that people are willing to pay high premiums on and then own the rentals free and clear, and then once you get them stabilized, maybe pull some cash out and then have no cash in the deal and cash flow, it's a great opportunity for for for an institutional play down the road.

SPEAKER_01

It just turns into an infinite return.

SPEAKER_00

It does, because you've got no money in the deal. Now, in some cases, that might not be as expeditious in some markets because there might be a longer lease up period. But um, in most cases, once you own something free and clear, you have nobody putting a thumb on your neck telling you what timeline they need you to perform in, right? When you own it free and clear, you can pretty much you know create uh the roadmap for yourself, not based on a lender or you know what I mean, an impatient partner.

SPEAKER_01

So and this is I mean, this has evolved over the years, right? You've always had the the specific asset class and the storage, but how you structure it, how you position it, how you offer it has has changed. Now, you've got you guys, your team, you've raised a significant amount of money.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Well over a hundred million. Let's talk a little bit about that, right? You've been in business for 10 years, you've been evolving. When you look at the the success you've had and attracting that capital and people wanting to work with you, what would you say got you to that point? What what attracted those people in to say Lux Locker is somebody that I know, like, and trust?

SPEAKER_00

I would say probably getting one or two of these locations under our belt to prove to people that we can execute. And it wasn't just an idea or a concept. You know what I mean? Yeah. Seeing the physical product. When I talked to Paul before uh we came in, he says, Hey, I just want to let you know I drove by one of your locations um in Glendale and saw it, right? Um, it becomes recognizable now that we've got um 16 completed locations and two that are almost done, so that's 18 total throughout seven states. When you walk around with the Lux Locker shirt, somebody has seen it somewhere. Yeah. Right? Maybe they didn't know what it was, but they can recognize it. Um yeah, it it's it's a really uh it's a really interesting concept. Did I answer your question?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_01

So, and and and Paul and I, when we connected with you guys at that event a couple months ago, we saw the shirt and we're like, holy shit, that's the owner of Lux Lover, right? Like, like it was cool just being in, and that was a very intimate event. There was about 40 people there and and what a great place to to connect. It was Brad Blazer event that that we actually connected at. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Great guy, great, great connector. He he he also opened my eyes, but raising a hundred million for these projects, okay, um, didn't happen overnight. The majority of the money that we've raised um started off with family and friends, I'd say maybe 10, 15 million, but it really took off when we started um asking for referrals. Okay. And it went our investor base went from 30, maybe 40, all the way up to let's call it 105, 110. Now we're at 203. Um, and that's why we're sitting here because Pete Pakes can't handle 203 investors all by himself, and we've got more and more people coming in via the website, the internet, YouTube, wanting to learn more about investing. And uh I can't it's tough.

SPEAKER_01

And that's I think it speaks a lot to your ability to execute. So not only do you have the brand, we talked about that, the brand recognition, but you said after you got two deals under your belt and you could show people that it was more than just an idea. How long did it take for those first two deals?

SPEAKER_00

Oh gosh. Uh the first deal that we did out of market, okay, not including the ones in Lake Habasu. Lake Habasu were flawless. Uh, I mean, we we we're we live in the town with all the city council members, yeah, with the mayor. I mean, they didn't do us any favors, but but you know what I mean? The explanation and being there locally helps, right? Yeah. Our first out-of-market project was Henderson, and it took four and a half years. It's painful. And we still did extremely well. And the second one? The second one was in Spanish Springs, Nevada, which is north of Sparks. Okay. And that one took about two and a half years. And then the third one took about two years, and then the fourth one took about a year and a half. And now we're turning projects, depending on the municipality, obviously, on average, anywhere from eight to twelve months. Meaning from shoveling the ground to you know being completed and either selling or leasing is about eight to twelve months. So it's gotten better. We've gotten better because we weren't good at the beginning, right? There wasn't a playbook on this stuff, we were creating it. And um and the our messaging's gotten better to the municipalities, to the investors, and that's just kind of snowballed and created that momentum.

SPEAKER_01

Do you see any other scenario or any other path that could have gotten you to where you are doing these units in eight to twelve months without going through those projects? No way. So let's talk to the person that that has this great idea. They think they're gonna knock it out in a year or two. What advice would you share with them based on your experience? Uh can can I clarify your question? Please. They're trying to do what we're doing? Not not doing what you're doing. Okay. So the the first part of that question was do you see any other scenario that would have gotten you to where you are success-wise without going through that growing process? So that was the first part. Second part is to the other entrepreneur or business owner that might be listening that thinks they can bypass that, what advice would you share with them?

SPEAKER_00

Um if you try to bypass things to get to your end goal without learning the process, when it goes wrong, you won't know where to correct.

SPEAKER_01

And we talk a lot about that in regards to building trust for raising capital. Right. Because what we see oftentimes in our industry is people will meet someone new, they find out they have some money, and then they're like, hey, look at this sweet deal, look at all these returns. And they bypass what we refer to as a trust timeline. They don't take people through that relationship process of appropriately developing trust. So when you look back at your success in raising capital and doing these deals, what ways has LuxLocker and Pete, and what ways have you worked people through this trust timeline?

SPEAKER_00

Uh that's uh that's an important question because I was much more successful when I had the time to spend the time working on the trust timeline and the sequence of that trust. Okay. But when we started growing exponentially and I needed capital quicker and quicker and didn't have a the a proper CRM or a system that eloquently reached out to potential investors, you know what I mean, in a in an appropriate manner with the right messaging and information. Um I I slipped on that. And that's why I recognized uh that I needed to rebuild that trust sequence and spend the time that I did with our early investors that came in that are still with us. Yeah. Right. Uh, rather than showing somebody a deal because I need the money quick because we've got six locations in the hopper. Does that you can't bypass that step?

SPEAKER_01

And you gotta you gotta remain top of mind and remain relevant and let these people know you you care about them. Right. And it's funny, I I remember because at that event we met at, I was actually speaking and I was talking about the trust timeline. And one of the challenges we see with a lot of people looking to attract capital is struggling to generate leads. And so I posed that question. I was like, who out here is is struggling to raise leads? Or or it was like, who has more leads than they know what to do with? That's what I asked. And you were the only one that raised your hand, and it it did. It caught me off guard for a second because I never that never happens. And then we had a chance to connect after that. And uh, and you shared a little bit about your situation where you guys are at, and and it led to a partnership now with us working together. And you shared something with Paul and I right before we started recording that helped re-engage some people on your list. What was that experience?

SPEAKER_00

Um we learned, oh, probably a couple few months ago uh on the surface from um from a seminar that we attended uh about VSLs. Okay. We've always shot some shorts or or whatever, you know. Hey, we're on site, come see us. Uh, but um after we spoke, you gave me a framework which I took and put into our system that really refined that framework and shot a three minute and fifty second VSL.

SPEAKER_01

That's it. Three minute and fifty second. That's it.

SPEAKER_00

I sent it to all of our current investors and I sent it to all of our current unit owners, which we have access to, and just simply asked them for their feedback, okay? And to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. All right. Um, I got more emails and calls about, hey, this video is really cool. It really encompasses what you guys do. It's educational, okay, it's not boring. And where's your next deal?

SPEAKER_01

Just like that. A three-minute, 50-second video.

SPEAKER_00

I'd say probably five to ten people. Um that matter of fact, I have a couple of emails in my inbox when I was driving here today, uh, of people that reached out that saw the video and just wanted to engage more. Now I don't know if they're gonna write a check. Okay. One person has already written a check, but he was a previous investor that saw the video that I wasn't engaged with, let's call it for a few months, right? Um, and he's now invested into our Bozeman Montana project. So it what I learned from you is that that's important to just educate and inform. Don't necessarily ask for their money. Okay. You don't want to be an asshole. No, you don't. Exactly. That's great. Uh the VSL leads to the workshop. The workshop leads to the commitment webinar. The commitment webinar might lead to eight more conversations. But um you'll know the right time to either say, hey, are you gonna write a check or not? But yeah, if there isn't trust built, you can't ask that question and be successful.

SPEAKER_01

I want to talk about how powerful Jesse's VSLs are, right? Three three to four minutes. How many people roughly did your team send that to?

SPEAKER_00

So we sent that to roughly five hundred people.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. And I don't know, maybe Paul can look up on our YouTube channel, but I believe that video has close to 400 views. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

So I'm terrible at math, but let's say an average phone call that you have with somebody, I've had some phone calls, you and I like talking. Right. Like we plan to talk, maybe five minutes, ends up turning into 1520, which is great. But let's say average phone call is 15 minutes. How long would it take to have 55-minute phone calls following up with people in your network? A lot. Right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So with one VSL, with some guidance and a framework that we provided, you guys recorded it, right? It has to be in your voice. You recorded that four-minute video, sent it to your list. Right. And now you have all those follow-ups and those calls. Just from that, you literally found a way to clone yourself.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

You found a way to clone yourself. Not we're not talking AI, right? This is actually Pete delivering the message and people connected with that, people that knew you, right? That's how effective and how powerful something as small as a VSL can be. And what we have found is that oftentimes people just need a little bit of that guidance, a little bit of that structure, which you guys have just dialed in and and just and executed on flawlessly. So excited to see how those VSLs continue to progress to the workshops, to the webinars. And ultimately at the end of the day, what we're doing for you guys and your team is creating this net and the system that doesn't allow people to slip through the cracks.

SPEAKER_00

Oh gosh. I I think that that was the story of our capital raising efforts. Right? Um, there's only so much that I can do. I can't remember to send an email to all 202 or 203 active investors, not the what, 1200 that are potential investors in our CRM to just constantly stay top of mind and it it's it's difficult. I could hire people to do that, um, but I I own I was talking to my brother about this. I own the relationship. I don't necessarily uh uh need to or want to, but they've identified who owns the relationship. So they need to hear from me. Now they'll allow our team and our staff to help them out, but there's always one person. I've learned this, Dallin. There's always one person in your organization that owns the relationship. Even if somebody knows my brother and I equally, one of us will own the relationship. They'll always be the one that they call. Do you know what I mean? Even if you set them up like, hey, if you have it doesn't matter. There's one person that owns the relationship, and that's another thing that we've learned through this process.

SPEAKER_01

So one thing that's been huge for us, because I I agree 100% with you, both Paul and I, we were relationship people, and we found that we've spent too much time, unfortunately, with people that didn't respect or value our time as as much as we did. And so what this system has allowed us to do is it's actually allowed us to be more available for those people that that we have that mutual respect for. So when when some people call and I'm able to pick up and answer right away, it's because a system is helping to sort and organize based on how engaged these people are. And that's that's something that you guys are already starting to experience with this VSL. So awesome. Well, Pete, this has been an absolute pleasure. I'm sure there's so much more that we could talk about, but we're running short of time. If people are interested and want to learn more about Lux Locker, where's the best place they can go?

SPEAKER_00

The best place that they can go is on our website. It's Luxlocker.com, L-U-X-E, L-O-C-K-E-R.com, and click the investor tab and it says future investor, and you can watch that VSL that we shot because that's where we put it on to explain the investment process on ground up developments that that we build. Can I add one thing about you guys, about you and Paul? Please. Um, I I would I would highly recommend that if somebody is trying to raise capital and they're getting in leads or they're creating this database on how important it is to have a conversation with you and and to figure out if it's going to fit uh with their willingness to do the work. If they're willing to do the upfront work that you require that is going to guarantee. Success. I don't know at what level because it's only as much as I put into it, right? But you've created such a great system and a process to do that, that if you're willing to put the work in, okay, the entrepreneur is willing to put the work in, then your your system is going to be successful. So I just wanted to say that. Thank you. I appreciate you guys.

SPEAKER_01

And I and we didn't we didn't ask for that. No, you did not.

SPEAKER_00

But I I can tell you processes and systems are everything.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. Well, we we really appreciate that. And it's a it's been a blast. In fact, I was talking to our marketing strategist this morning, right before this podcast. And uh, and they said, okay, when you think about your your ideal client, your ideal avatar, who is a I said Pete Pigs with Lux Locker.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

That literally just happened this morning. Because it it goes two ways, Pete. And that's one of the reasons we really enjoy working with you and your team, is because we can provide the guidance, we can provide the frameworks, we can provide the structure and the technical expertise to connect it all. At the end of the day, it's you on that camera, right? People are looking to build trust with you, not with Paul and I. Right. You know, like we might our facial hair is on point, right? But at the end of the day, we're not Lux Locker, you are. And so I I do appreciate you sharing that and saying, hey, if you're willing to put in the time and effort, because some people, a lot of people, I think expect this absolutely turnkey done for you. And that's just not that's not realistic because at the end of the day, it's it's you. Now we're here to to guide and and direct. But but yeah, you guys have been great to work with and and you're putting in the time, you're getting the assets that we need, and and look what's happening, right? Right when there's when there's a good way, two-way partnership. So that's been excellent. So appreciate you. Pete, if there's one thing that you can share. Well, first of all, if you're interested in connecting with Lux Locker, go to their website, watch that VSL that that we were talking about. And last thing I got to say too is just how you how your team carries yourself. There is a gentleman, this happened maybe a month, month and a half ago. He reached out to us because he was interested in investing into our fund, but we're not actively raising right now. So I had a short conversation with him, tried to figure out what he was looking for, what he was interested in. And based on his comments, I started going down the path of hey, have you looked into storage? And I shared a little bit about you guys and and he wanted an introduction. I made that intro, and then it was probably within a week. You're like, Dallin, he's already wired the funds. So that was unbelievable. Yeah. So that that I think has much more to do with how you guys operate and the conversations you have because this gentleman did a lot of due diligence before that conversation. He was on your website, he saw the branding, he saw your process. So you guys are already doing a phenomenal job. And I've got to say that that goes that weighs heavily into people's ability to raise capital. And I would say attract capital. Right. So that's an experience that when done right, things can happen quick. I mean, you you two had no previous relationship before that. And yeah, I made the introduction. I can't take credit for that though, because I mean I could take credit for the introduction. I can't take credit for him actually investing with you guys, right? Because it's it was your your system, your brand that he was able to develop a quick amount of trust in. So I'd say one of the biggest takeaways for me from this podcast is don't underestimate the power of the brand and the people you have on your team and that culture. Because if there's anything I've noticed, Pete, it's your culture, it's your brand, and how you guys operate that's allowed you to expand and tap into these markets.

SPEAKER_00

No, I appreciate it. We work really hard on both. Right? We want to become the descriptive term for what we build. Yeah. Right? Like Xerox is to copies or Uber is to ride share or Kleenex is to tissue. Yeah. We Lux Locker, we want it to be the descriptive term on large premium storage. You are the standard. Yeah, we want to try to be, yes.

SPEAKER_01

So, Pete, it's been an absolute pleasure. Really appreciate you coming in. And to our listeners, appreciate you tuning in to another Capital Flow podcast. We'll catch you on the next one.