Ep. 12 - Fail Fast: Pivoting Toward a Billion-Dollar Empire

Mike Duley usually asks the questions, but this time our marketing partner Aubrey turns the mic around and puts Mike in the hot seat. If you’ve ever wondered how someone goes from corporate sales to building a real estate career that scales into a brokerage, a team, and multiple businesses, this conversation maps the whole arc, including the messy parts: uncertainty, failed ventures, and the moments where pride can keep you stuck too long.

We talk about what actually drives growth for entrepreneurs and real estate professionals: surrounding yourself with the right people, paying for coaching, and treating learning like a daily discipline. Aubrey shares how a simple LinkedIn message and a 30-minute coffee meeting opened doors when she moved to Northwest Arkansas, and Mike gives practical networking advice on where to meet mentors and future partners, from charity events to coffee shops. We also get tactical on business fundamentals, including the “lead domino” concept, scorecards, and the consistency that prevents the revenue roller coaster.

Then we go deeper on 10x goal setting and building wealth with real estate. Mike explains how to “chunk down” a 10-year vision into actions you can take now, how founders become the bottleneck when results flatline or focus spreads too thin, and why systems, AI, and automation should support the business without replacing real human connection. We close with habits and routines that create real ROI, plus a framework for an extraordinary life that includes family time, community, and a plan you can be proud of at 80.

If you got value from this, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it. What’s one goal you’re willing to work backward from starting today?

Transcript

Welcome To The Show

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Welcome to the Real Mike Dooley Podcast. I'm Mike Dooley, nationally recognized broker, bringing you real conversations, real strategies, and real insights into today's real estate market. Hey, hey, what's going on? This is the real Mike Dooley. We're pumped to be here. And I'm hearing something different might happen today, which I'm pretty excited about. So we have the one and only Aubrey. She's gonna, she's our marketing person, guru. She's got companies. Actually, I will ask you before we start, we should tell everyone who you are and what you have going on. And a new mom. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

I have a new mom. I have a five-month-old baby. And um, it is so much crazier than I ever expected being a new mom while also owning my business, doing marketing for different people. So um I have been doing marketing and photography together and branding, um, custom work for people for almost 13 years now. So since I was out of high school, um I moved here from Kansas City where I had a pretty large studio there. And so now I still do all of that, have my own business, but then I also get to work with awesome people like Mike. Um, and then yeah, who knows? Maybe I have some new ventures coming soon. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

That's awesome. That's a teaser. Well, you know, it's funny about being a new mom, and I think Cody and I are such planners. I don't know if you're seeing this. We think, hey, we're gonna plan our life today. This is exactly what's gonna happen. Then you get a text from the school nurse, oh, your kid's not feeling well. Or they go, oh, your dentist's appointment. We're an hour late. Things happen. And I think, you know, being a parent really causes you to go, okay, give grace. That's one thing, you know, and have patience and being able to pivot. You know, and I know we're gonna talk about entrepreneurship and business today. And I think that's the number one. I think sometimes being a parent is like, oh, it causes you to go, you're not in complete control. It also reminds you, God's in control. Yeah. So we have to remember that for sure. Yeah. Your hair looks on point, looks awesome today.

Flipping The Script On Mike

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Yeah, thank you for noticing. Um, so today's gonna be a little bit different. I'm going to flip the script a bit and um reverse interview Mike on his own podcast. So this is typically, you know, this is the Mike show, but he's always the one interviewing other people, and he's so good at it. He gets out phenomenal stories. Um, hopefully you've you've listened to all of his podcasts by now and you know that there are some awesome guests. But something I noticed he needed on his podcast was an interview. Like we needed to hear who Mike is and and why, Mike, do you have this podcast? And and I just wish we heard more from you sometimes. So here I am. I convinced him to let me come on here and and interview him for a change. Um, but before we get we get going on all of that, uh, there's something I do want to ask you um that I am trying to figure out myself. So we look at like kind of where you started. We know you went to U of A. That's pretty obvious. If you guys follow Mike anywhere, he's always doing things, going to games. Um, we know he used to work in corporate, but how did you get from there all the way to here? Because it just seems like there's some huge like gaps there that I'm like, wait, you were you were working at at Walmart? Uh was that where you were working?

SPEAKER_03 3:15

No, and I it's like I'm an alien, just got dropped off.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Where what? How did you get from A to B and like where yes, Philadelphia?

From Florida To Fortune 50

SPEAKER_03 3:22

Yeah, I might back up even, which is kind of funny. Some of my friends would say uh you're a U of A fan, but I'll even back up. So growing up, I actually grew up in Miami, Florida. I lived there until I was like 20 years old and I was a hurricane fan, which a lot of people is kind of crazy. But then I had a girl cousin shout out to Lisa. My brother went to University of Miami, and people don't realize it's a private school. So I didn't want to do that to my parents twice, and I don't know if I was smart enough to even get in.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

So, but I went to Florida State, is actually where I went. So I went to Florida State, and my parents actually came with me. They were tired of hurricanes and crime and traffic in Miami. My dad lived there his whole life. My mom moved there when she was like 16. They're high school sweethearts. So I went to Florida State and Kraft Foods hired me from Florida State. So I worked for Kraft Foods there, Tallahassee. Then they moved me to Tampa.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:13

So then I moved to Tampa and I was there for two years with a lot of my buddies, cool friends from Florida State. And I managed the Walmart business, but for Kraft Foods.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Got it.

SPEAKER_03 4:23

So that's snacks. So I had Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Maxwell House. I remember when Hurricane Katrina hit 20 years ago, that Folgers, one of their plants, was hit. So we had to spread all the shelves with Maxwell House, uh, which is pretty crazy in all the stores. So I had over 20 stores, Walmart stores, that I called on. I would drive four or five thousand miles a month driving to these stores. So I did pretty well. I did pretty good. And I got promoted. And then I got promoted to Bentonville to here, uh to Walmart.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:52

So I talked to a lot of friends and I did have some relatives that lived in Eureka Springs, and my cousin ended up being my roommate in Fayetteville. And they said as a young single guy, I don't know how young or single, I wasn't crazy, but he said we should live together. And we did. People said you should live in Fayetteville at that time. So this is Labor Day 2006. So I can't believe it 20 years ago. And I started as a sales analyst at Kraft Foods. And I was only going to live for 18 months and move back to Florida, was my vision.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

And then I met Cody. And Cody and I got together, and she said, if we ever get together, we're living in Arkansas forever. And I said, Oh, this is a change. And I got promoted again with Kraft. So I had seven jobs and seven years with Kraft Foods. Wow. And they've moved me to Minneapolis. So I said, actually, they're moving me to Minneapolis. So Cody and I both went to Minneapolis and lived downtown for three years. And then we had our oldest daughter, Evelyn. I don't know if you wanted the 70-year thing, but I'll give it all to you real fast.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

I love it.

The Leap Into Real Estate

SPEAKER_03 5:45

So Evelyn was born in Minneapolis and the only grandchild on Cody's side of the family, and her parents are like, You're moving back to Arkansas immediately now. So we did. We always wanted to live here. But they have actually seven grandkids, and our whole family lives here. But Northwest Arkansas is just an amazing place and it's good. So fast forward, I worked for Abbott Nutrition. So I always worked worked in Fortune 50 companies, if you will. So Abbott Nutrition is Similac, PediaShirt, you know, all that. And I ran our class, our mass baby team. And then I worked at uh uh Collective Bias, a shopper social media company, uh, which is a lot of fun. So actually it spawned from the Walmart moms, which were the first influencers, which is pretty cool. So I was part of a lot of that. More on the sales side, business development, you'd think I'd be better at social media or something. Then I got recruited to launch Yankee Candle at Walmart. So I launched Yankee Candle at Walmart. I was the only sales, marketing, logistics person on the ground, if you will, and was able to have that experience. And my aha or my my thing that I go, oh, you know, blew my mind, if you will, is I was going to turn 40. Sinclair was going to be born, our youngest, and I just knew at heart I was an entrepreneur. And I just told Cody I want to be an entrepreneur. And I heard this podcast that said the top 1%, 24% of their portfolio is in real estate. My father-in-law is one of the top builders in Arkansas, does an awesome job, and I approached him about potentially building some specs. He was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think he never thought Cody was going to let me get my license. I did get my license and I kept powering through. And then finally, I worked two jobs, if you will. So I was wanting another job. And then July, I sold seven, seven houses, which the average agent does seven in a year. So I did that in July. And then so basically August 1st, our baby was healthy, our second one. And Cody said, fine, you can go. So then I went all into real estate and started as a single agent at real estate. Now I did interview five or six brokerages, and I think that's people listening now. What's important to you? And that's a question I would ask people. For me, it was I wanted to own my own business. I wanted to potentially own part of a business. I wanted to own part of buildings. Some brokerages, you're an employee, and I didn't want to be an employee. So that's why I did choose Kella Williams because you can have ownership of what they call market centers or their offices. And started a team. Mick Broach, as you know, joined me 10 years ago, and he's been with me and just, you know, fast forward grew from there. So funny story, Cody was actually going to get into real estate two years before me. And then we were like, oh, I don't know. You don't, you don't make how do you make money in real estate? You know, we just didn't know, we didn't know then, because it is 1099 or commission only. And you think about that. There is ways, and we'll talk about it more in podcast shows to come, is how you can actually lay out your what you can make as far as an income. And I think a lot of people that are going to get into real estate, they're listening to this show, don't know you can't actually plan out what you're going to make. Now you have to do consistency, you have to have the activities, right? And you have to make that happen. But it's and there's no ceiling, and that's what I love about this business. I don't like ceilings in my life. Um, but yeah, I guess they're right. I don't know if we want to keep going, but I can't.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Yeah, a little bit more because we we're not all the way here yet. We're not, yeah.

Failure, Pivoting, And Scaling Up

SPEAKER_03 8:51

I think today, you know, and and I think people listening too is it's not all been success. I've had companies that have not worked and things that have failed. Uh so that's something to think about. And I think today, one thing I do is you want to fail fast and then realize, okay, I need to move on from that, or I need to change, or I need to pivot. I do that better today. Then sometimes pride gets in the way for a lot of people and say, oh, I could, I'm, I'm great at doing this and I'll keep running the company. Then you're losing revenue, you're losing money. And sometimes it's just it pivoted. AI, for instance. We were talking about today in our meeting, something that took 30 minutes and machines and all this stuff. AI you can do in one minute for free.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 9:29

Um, but yeah, today, fast forward, we have our brokerage uh that that you know, the leader of and the chairman of, and there's 401 agents. Uh we have eight offices. Uh we did over$1.1 billion in volume last year. It's pretty amazing. About 3,300 transactions. And yesterday I look, we have 11% market share, which number two is 7% market share. So that's a lot. So we're doing awesome, which is really cool. So proud of our organization and our people, Tina and everyone else leading that with us. And then we have the Dualie Group team, which is under that. Uh, we do about$100 million in volume every year in our team, which is pretty awesome. My wife is uh we have great people there, awesome people there, but Cody's leading a lot of the things and kicking butt there. Uh, then we have PC insurance. We have uh, what else do we have? Sign, the easy sign invention. We have keybox keep keeper invention, uh so many other things. Oh, mutual Omaha branch here, which is really exciting. I'm sure I'll think of more things that we have, which is a blessing. It's cool. Yeah we do have dually capital and dually properties, which are investment arms, and we're doing more and more things there. Uh, want to tell more people about as more shows go on as syndications. That's something I'm really excited about. And I think there's a lot of opportunity. So, quick math. So you give me 100,000 and then three years later I give you 200,000. How does that sound with doing nothing?

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Okay, where do I write the check to who am I giving that?

SPEAKER_03 10:52

Those are some of the things that we're doing right now. We do have several syndications going, which is a lot of fun. Wow.

unknown 10:56

Cool.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

Wow, Mike. I don't remember what else I'll say. Oh, we have real Mike Dooley. Want to talk about that too.

A Networking Story With Integrity

SPEAKER_00 11:01

So you started there. Yeah, it's it's really so fitting. Like anybody who knows Mike, like it took me three minutes of knowing Mike to know like I want to be connected to him and a little bit about how we met. So I moved here and I was starting a business from scratch. Like, I'm just like, where do I even start? I haven't done this since I was 18 and I'm um 32 now. So I got on LinkedIn and I actually had chat help me figure out the most successful people in Northwest Arkansas. Mike was on that list, and so I messaged all those people and kind of told them what I was doing, what I was trying to start, and asked him if he would be willing to give me like a 30 minutes just for coffee um to help me network and pick his brain. So he gave me that 30 minutes. Um, but not only that, he he helped me network with so many people. It was actually really funny. A quick side story. I walk in and I'm a little nervous. Like I haven't been networking as much as I probably should. I don't always know how to interact with men. And I just was like, wow, I've this is is this normal? And I had told my husband, I was like, I'm a little nervous. This is one of the first people I'm networking with here. Like I have no mutual friends. And I walk up and he's like, Hey, so nice to meet you. Had all of this like um enthusiasm and like just so warm. And he goes, Wait, before we get started, I have to show you my wife. Have you seen her? She is so good looking and says that to me. And I'm just all my walls come down, and I'm just like, Wow, this man has integrity. Like the fact that he led with that with a single woman, I know it was intentional, but I was really impressed by that. And that really does help young women who aren't um in that world as much. Like I was coming from doing my own business, putting my head down, like I hadn't been out in the world. So I always found that like I like telling that story because I think it really reflects one, how much Mike loves his wife and like the integrity he has. But also, like he just he introduced me to like five people that day. We were at the coffee shop and he's like, Hey, oh, that's that's a really awesome hairstylist here. Let me introduce you. Someone else walked in and he was like, Oh, hey, they're with the podcast studio. Let me introduce you. And then by the end of the day, I had met five people. And when I say day, I mean 30 minutes. Like that's how long it was. And I knew, I knew, I knew Mike was somebody I wanted to work with. Um he was in the process of getting the real Mike Dooley going. Um, I was like, Mike, what can I come on with you? Like, what can I help you with? And so that's kind of a little bit about how we got here.

SPEAKER_03 13:28

Um that was now I paid you well to talk about Cody and do that. That's awesome. No, that's what she's gonna say. And it is, you know, and and there's a lot of people probably listening that are entrepreneurs or in real estate. It's tough to keep it going. And I meant Cody and I work together. I think a lot of people ask that too. For the most part, I'm running other companies. She's kind of doing real estate piece. Um, we're not necessarily together all day, every day. But a funny story, we did pull in the parking lot. You pulled in to do the video that I pulled in, then Cody pulled in also. There's actually a title company in the same uh shopping plaza. She's going to closing what are the odds of that. But I you do have to work at it. And I think that's communication. So I think anyone listening, it's not perfect every day. It's not roses, you know. But I think too, we have to remember we are blessed because we have the opportunity to do what we want to do. Yeah. And there is days you've been in my office or Michelle has or other people where I'm stressed. And I usually what you have to do is as Deion Sanders said this, he's like, you can't, I he's like, I never have a bad day, Deion Sanders says. And I love that. So I think about that sometimes. I'm having a bad moment or a bad meeting or a bad thing with a customer or client. It's like, okay, how do you reframe that? What does that look like at the end of the day? So I always say I'm blessed to have a great wife that puts up with me, baby, I guess.

The People Who Shape Success

SPEAKER_00 14:42

So well, I've loved working alongside you guys and I'm excited to kind of dive in. For sure. So I actually have some questions for you, Mike. Um, one of the things you've said and mentioned is that who you surround yourself with will determine your success. And um, you know, that's case in point part of why I was like, okay, what can I do with Mike and Cody? Like, what can I be around Mike with or Mick or whoever? So um, with that being said, how did you learn that lesson? Like, how did you get to the point where you were like, this really is one of the most important things?

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Um, my parents would die and they think about this all the time. I've read more books probably the last couple of years than I read my whole uh student career. So investing in yourself. And I've been around a lot of things where they say you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. So usually, if anyone's listening, you could look at the four or five people you spend the time with and you can know their annual salary directionally, and you're actually gonna be 5% deviation up or down of those people, which is really, really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

It is interesting.

SPEAKER_03 15:42

So I think it's who you spend time with. And I had a few notes here too, you know, coaching. I'm blessed with a lot of great coaching. We spend thousands and thousands of dollars a month because we believe in it. A coach is gonna help you have different perspective. So think about some of the best athletes in the world, Tom Brady, whoever it is, you go through, usually it says their name and their coach, or their coach and the person. So I think you need that in business too. So I highly believe in that. So investing yourself, reading, podcasts, I think too, you got to think about your health. And that's something I've struggled with. I love soda, I love beer, I love old fashions, I love all the things you shouldn't be drinking. Wine, you know, food, Chick-fil-A, all the things. So you think about it though, if you want to be doing this until you're 100, what does that look like? So thinking about uh your workout schedule, and I think it's gonna make you too. When you're going an entrepreneur, you're going 10, 20, 30 hours, whatever it is a day. You got to have the energy to go at the end.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

So that's that's a great question. I just think too, it's like, so I would challenge anyone listening is also you have to break up with some friends sometimes or different people or find a place for them. You can put them on the shelf and say, okay, this is when I'm gonna spend time with them. If I really want to progress myself too. Mentors, also, who are your mentors? Mentors doesn't mean someone you have to know. So for instance, Warren Buffett, I think is brilliant at financial modeling and all the things that he's doing, is have you read the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders uh notes? I put in Chad GBT and I say, hey, give me a summary. I'm just getting a little bit smarter. So I had a mentor, Tom Corley, say, no, a little bit about a lot.

Finding Mentors And New Friends

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Yeah, that's good. So, you know, here I am, new to Northwest Arkansas, starting over kind of as a new mom, uh just to dig a little bit deeper. How would someone like me, like I understand how to get a mentor? Like, I see you as one of my mentors, I see Cody as one of my mentors, but how am I gonna make friends in this world? Like, how are you making friends?

SPEAKER_03 17:40

Charity events is one thing. Just so you know, giving back, where do the people that have money or have influence are doing things, where are they at? Charity events, you know? So that was something that Cody and I both started away in the beginning. It was actually 20 years ago or so, or a little, excuse me, 17 years ago, I won Kiss a Pig, which is raising the most money for American diabetes at a night, you know. So Cody and I, we we love that. It was awesome. The influential people are going there because either their company is sponsoring or they want it, they're in a right coaching club or networking or mentoring. So networking coffee shops, just so you know, sit in a coffee shop and interact with people. Other people in the coffee shop are doing the same thing. Yeah, they're networking, they're meeting people. I found myself sometimes now. I actually can't go to a coffee shop because I get nothing done because I am a social person, I love being around people. That's something else, too, is I have to get my one thing done, or I have to get my 20% of my 80-20. So charity events would be a great place. I also think, you know, networking Facebook groups. There's a lot of great Facebook groups too. And just I would say too, just do it. Like the Nike uh symbol, if you will, or modern. Put it out there, put it out in the world. Here's what I'm looking for. And that's what you did. Yeah, you LinkedIn. I think that's another great place, is put it out there what you need. People generally want to help people. It's so true. For the most part, they really do. You just have to ask for it.

Entrepreneur Mistakes And Lead Dominos

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Yeah. Yeah, that's that's really great. Okay, we're gonna start going to those events. We'll see you there, Mike. Yes. Okay, so um, what's what are some mistakes you're seeing entrepreneurs make right now? What are the some of the biggest things that you're like, especially some of the younger ones that are getting going? Uh help us avoid some of those. What are some that you're seeing?

SPEAKER_03 19:20

Business roller coasters happen a lot. So say they have business and they're earning business development, then they get busy doing it, and then they're stopped lead generator, stop asking for the business. You have to have those consistency of something that's important. So if you have certain framework that you're laying out, here's my goals, we have to make sure that you're earning. Perfect example. We have an event center. I forgot about that too. Gather Bentonville, if you ever want a book. That's one of our other companies and one of our other businesses. And one of the things that I ask for, I don't want to micromanage anyone. So Sunday, the goal is to give me an executive review, quick executive review, look at the week, what's happening, and I can comb through and say, how can I help? So sometimes people don't get out of their own way, too. So for instance, in March, this just happened today, and we have five tours. Everything is a lead domino. So if you look at your business, you have a lead domino. So ours for the event center starts with tours, if you will. So having any tours, that doesn't mean they have any bookings, that doesn't mean revenue, but it leads to revenue. So if you're only having 15 tours in a month and you're not getting the revenue that you need, we need more tours.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 20:23

So I think a lot of young entrepreneurs don't understand it's not necessarily knowing your PL or your model. It's just working on a lead domino. So I actually have an executive scorecard for all companies. I guess 15 or 17 different companies that I'm looking at affect first metrics. So for instance, in Keller Williams, we want to grow 17 agents, either new or existing. So that's a lead domino that controls everything PL, profit, all the pieces, and more opportunity for jobs.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

So I think if I had to frame it up, it's consistency, it's tracking. I think that's important, looking at your numbers every day. No matter what business it is, call a widget. You're selling bottles of water. Well, there's 12 in a in a you know case, if you will, having it in a pallet, you could work backwards, uh, which I know I'm gonna talk a little bit about goal setting to the now, but that's something to think about.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Yeah. Awesome. That's that's really helpful. I'm like learning so much. I feel like you're a little student right now, just taking notes and learning from Mike. Yes, yeah, that's exactly what it is.

SPEAKER_03 21:21

Well, you want to, you know, you you do an amazing job of photography. You're like, hey, well, also not every margin the same. As you know, you do headshots, you do a group shot, maybe you're doing high school graduation stuff, and I see all the amazing things that you're doing, you can go through and say, What's my margin mix? I think that's something else. A really good book I would throw out is 10x versus 2x. And a lot of that's mindset. And I love that book. And Linda's a good friend, and she's on in that book, which is kind of cool. So having people that you know that are famous like her.

10X Goal Setting By Working Backward

SPEAKER_00 21:49

So that actually kind of leads us to our next question, um, which is if someone wanted to 10x their business, um, where should they actually start? But I do want to kind of throw in there. I have read so many of Mike's bios pulling and pulling things for different marketing and branding purposes. And something I was really like, wait, wait, what? Like read over and over is how you have like since you left corporate America, I mean, you have done so much more. And you even did it in a short amount of time. So tell us a little bit about how to 10X and even if you don't mind sharing a little bit about that, because that's like I was really intrigued by you. I don't know exactly how many X's it was, but I think that I read that you 5xed um your corporate America salary within like five years.

unknown 22:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

And a lot of that too, we talked about net worth, you know, it's probably even 10x net worth, you know, since that time.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

Right.

SPEAKER_03 22:46

Cody and I have have built that. Now some people sometimes people look at that too and they think that's all cash flow income, not necessarily some of the delayed gratification, buying a building that has appreciation. So sometime you're looking compound interest work for you.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:00

And that's something else I've really learned as an entrepreneur and as a business person, as a real estate person. But I think a lot of it starts with mindset. And I know that term whenever people hear mindset, they kind of can go a lot of different ways. But I would just say believing you could do it. And I do every day. Now there's days where I'm like, oh, I'm going two steps backwards. But then I go 10 steps forward and moving. So how do you 10X versus 2x goal setting and now is one of the things I was going to give you is know where you're going. So one of the stories I like telling which is true is Cody loves her toes in the sand. And so do I. We love the beach. So say that goal is 10 years from anyone to buy a beach house or a Colorado ski place, whatever that thing is, and you want to chunk it down, you want to work backwards. So what's one thing you do you can do today to get to that 10 year goal? So if I wanted to buy a beach house, which I'm working on right now, is what first thing I did? Well I got my Florida Florida real estate license. Well as you know too I can get a referral in that commission. So when I buy that house maybe my down payments nothing. So I'm working the pieces until the end goal. So when you want a 10x, what does that look like? What is what do I need? What employees do I need? So for instance you can go simple mind free as an app you can have in your laptop and you can do org charts. So when someone says hey Mike what's your vision for 10 years from now you can say well this is where our company is going. What bubble would you like? Or what will you want to get promoted? Well here's the other bubbles that I need within 10 years. So it's laying out a plan and working backwards. We call it chunking it down if you will too okay well how much do I need to save? How much do I need to cash flow? So one of the things you're able to do is negotiate with the current owner 30A Florida beach houses have higher inventory and prices are down 24%. So now's an opportunity maybe to act because the interest rate's higher where someone might own or finance the down payment and then you could actually negotiate the leases. So say 23 weeks of leases is break even. Well it's all about math well I had to learn that as part of my 10 year goal. Now I have the information when someone says hey we would sell a property this well I have the information and I can act.

SPEAKER_02 25:04

Right.

SPEAKER_03 25:05

So Colin Powell says if you have 70% of the information or more you act 30% or less you do nothing. And that's hard for entrepreneurs to do nothing. Sometimes in a decision you need to do nothing because you don't have enough information, enough data.

When Founders Become The Bottleneck

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Right. Yeah that's good. So um at what point does a founder become the bottleneck of their company?

What To Stop Doing To Grow

SPEAKER_03 25:25

Ooh I think this happens to a lot of people and you see it in majority companies baso step down or change. I I think too I I'm probably at it for a dually group as an example the last five years we've been a hundred million in volume and we're we're not breaking through a ceiling. So I either have to get better smarter or different or am I passionate about it. And sometimes if you think about business AI is so strong. So do we need to be have more of a tech person involved? What does that look like? Or do I have passion for doing that too? I think a founder at times get burnt out. So I think that's a little bit too or their passions change. Like for me I've been in this real estate game for 10 years now seems like a lot or not a lot. I don't know because I have a lot of friends that have been at 30 or 40 but I would say too what I'm figuring out is more things I like and I'm changing. Well I'm gearing more ourselves to commercial development syndications. I enjoy that because I can see the 10x or 100x output. So I think too that's something to look at from a founder is would be are you flatlining? So are your results flat are you not growing the way you used to you know first year you know we're 10x 20x and all that stuff. And then we kind of hit a flatline. Now the markets change too so sometimes you need to show up different. I think that's important. So it's how how willing are you how willing are you to have the grit and the consistency? I think that's important too. And I would say for me I've diversified myself so much that sometimes that's another piece that comes into play is have I diversified myself so much that I'm spread so thin that the one thing that I had wasn't driving the way it needs to. And I think founders do that a lot where they a lot of opportunities. So if I had to throw something out to it's about saying no. I'm not great at saying no like example you asked for coffee, which I'm so glad we did. But as a founder you need to say no to a lot of things and no to a lot of people and I want to help a lot of people because I'm blessed to where I am now and that's a really hard thing as a founder is you don't have enough time. So if you can figure out a way to I'll give you a little tip for anyone listening. I used to do hour coffees or 90 minute coffee with a new person thinking about getting into real estate. Now I actually do a 15 minute call uh and it ask some questions. Let me set you up with a few things. Here's our free real estate school that's a scholarship we can give you here's a book I recommend here's a here's a podcast because if they won't even do that then I'm giving away an hour of my time what does that look like together? But if they're willing to do those activities, hey I love that book. I love that podcast. I started school well now I know they're dedicated and they have grit to work with me. Yeah yeah wow great I love it I love it uh so what's something that you stopped doing that actually ended up helping your business grow faster for sure I had uh a sign printing I still have the invention called the easy sign but capture marketing was one of the companies that I had we had 19 machines 10 W employees all that stuff and I realized I didn't necessarily amazing people we were able to merge that with another company which is great. But I realized I didn't have the technical skill sets to be able to fix the machines. I didn't have the time and I think that kind of business is full time all in where I was treating it somewhat passive where I'd pop in and out and that was very hard. We're losing a lot of revenue a month and I think if I had to like throw it out and Cody would jump in here she jumped to the door probably saying we kept it too long. We shouldn't have merged it earlier we should have you know combined it with another company how do you break it in pieces so I think as on founders and entrepreneurs let your pride I I think my pride was in the way saying everything I've done has been awesome. I'm going to grit my way to this some things can't be grit. And as you know my chief of staff Michelle she's awesome and I'm coaching her in this way say we're a thousand agents in our office we're a hundred on our team you know I have 6,000 I didn't I forgot about another job I have I'm actually one of the leaders of our region which is awesome awesome a super blessing and that's Kansas Missouri Arkansas Nebraska and Iowa we have 26 market centers offices 6,000 agents. So if we wanted to get to all 6,000 agents we couldn't literally physically do that in one day. So you can't use grit. So I think that's something else for founders to realize is you need to use systems and tools to be able to communicate. So one of the things I do is slide dial broadcasts. I could drop one voice by leaving one voicemail, I could drop it to all those phone numbers. Well that's scaling and thinking differently.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

Yeah I will say I I've been really impressed at how you've learned to use things like AI and automation and I always see you, you're like, are there ways we can make it quicker? Are there ways that um are we spending too much time doing something? Let's do a little audit on where we're spending our time and even that has been like a really cool tip for me. Like I think as business owners we should probably be auditing quarterly if not more and trying to kind of figure out how can how can we make this more efficient. Otherwise it's not even scalable right like if I'm doing little tiny tasks um this that I'm not going to get anywhere.

SPEAKER_03 30:30

Well sometimes too as a leader some things are not maybe technology or not scalable. Sometimes for instance I was just leaving Mick he's been with us 10 years and we used to have a one-on-one coffee or bi-monthly coffee that's not on the calendar anymore. Sometimes you need that face-to-face connectivity that's something else I would talk to people and say sometimes so much technology can cause founder and CEO burnout. We need to have real connections sometimes too so there is a balance and I think I go back and forth all the time. So you need to think about your scaling sometimes you need to have one of my favorite books right now is Unreasable Hospitality as you know it's so good. And Will talks about that too sometimes everything can't be a system. Yeah I hear me say that a lot too it has to be a system or it needs to be a human element to that system.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Yeah definitely good oh man this is I'm really enjoying this Mike we're running through we're making it happen. Okay so I have another question for you.

SPEAKER_03 31:29

I want to talk a little bit about habits um and routines we've talked about them before a little bit but what is one that um really helped you and had like a lot of ROI in your life what's something you've been doing or have done um a couple ideas maybe just off the cuff if you will my calendar I get more done than other people because I can really make sure it's on my calendar I don't know how many times the listeners go, oh I should have done that one thing and I have a 24 hour rule that I coach and teach all the time. So whenever you hear something and it's awesome you need to go ahead and stop whatever you're doing and go ahead and put on your calendar not to do that one thing but say three days later but within 24 hours you put on your calendar and say create podcasts create whatever it is and then you're time blocking that so my calendar is something that really makes me efficient and effective and I think I'm more effective by having on there so having priorities on my calendar I think is really important. And this is something that I'm three to four times a week maybe three times a week is I ruck. So if you've ever seen that you know you always talk about the housewives with the weighted vest yeah funny story on that uh Steagan my sister-in-law I bought a 10 pound I think a 10 pound vest and uh by our house uh even though it's kind of in town it's being less and less uh out in the woods if you will um is dirt roads so I was putting my 10 pounds on and I was investing myself I do one podcast every time working out I'm in nature you know and investing myself no phone calls but then she said oh I have a 20 pound so I had to buy a 25 pound so now I have a 25 pound uh so maybe I'm a little bit competitive too but I think if I had to throw out some things I think my calendar is really important. Having great people around me really makes me look good every day and helps me. I'm not doing it all I have great people around me. And I would say some of investing in myself I'm doing at least I don't know seven to ten books podcasts whatever it is every week and that's got consistency. So back to what I said Tom Corley said know a little bit about a lot. So when I'm being interviewed like now or anyone's being interviewed, I'm able to go, oh boom, here's an example here's something I implemented in my life. So I love atomic habits and another good, you know, get 1% better every day. That's something I'm thinking about I don't love water right but what does our human body need? What do we need is water. So I think that's something I'm always thinking about. And I heard Gary Brecka say this if you follow him I love what a lot of stuff he says from TEDx health. He says actually go ahead and get a big glass of water the first thing in the morning with gold bond sea salt. So I put a little bit of sea salt in there and I chug one. So one's already down for the day. So that's the first thing usually I do every day. So that's part of a habit. Yeah you have a lot of great habits to impress yeah but they don't happen all the time you know but still and I would too if I challenge anyone listening is wake up 15 minutes earlier. I know so many people we have one of our team members I love him to death he's awesome but he can't wake up early in the morning so I always tease if I'm waking up at 5 a.m and he starts at 10, I already have five hours on him. Yeah. So if you did 240 working days in a year, how many more hours of working do I have on him or my competitors? Right. That's something to think about too.

Building An Extraordinary Life Plan

SPEAKER_00 34:44

One of my favorite books is the 5 a.m club man that changed my life um whenever I was 25 is when I read it and I did years of like getting up at 5 a.m I was in a better mood. I got more done than I could have ever believed. I'm taking a break from the 5 a.m I was just gonna say I'm at the 3 a.m club right now. So a little break from that. But yeah I it's so true. We really do have a competitive edge. Um and that kind of brings me to our last question. Um if any of my followers um my my handle's at Aubrey Lauren there are two underscores in between Aubrey Lauren. Um but anyway if any of you all are listening you know that I speak about having an extraordinary life and living an extraordinary life. And in order to live an extraordinary life you have to do things that others are not willing to ordinary people don't get to live extraordinary lives. So with that being said how can someone create like a truly extraordinary life a life that they can look back at when they're 80 and say I'm proud of this not just a great business but a whole life you know like I I see how you do things and something I admire about you guys is that you're really good about family time. Like I see you all go and do things like that to me it looks like a fulfilling balanced life. Like you're a great businessman but I would say you're a really great family man too. So Mike give us some advice on living like that extraordinary life.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

I would say this for anyone listening to give yourself grace also I have to remind myself of that because you do put in your mind you're like oh I I for instance there's the parent teacher conference today. Well on our calendar it says from four to eight p.m obviously the parent teacher conference is not that old time so we need to figure out what that slot is. There's times for the most part you know 90% uh effort where I'm don't miss a parent teacher conference. But there's times I'm traveling for business and I might miss one. Like don't beat yourself up. So anybody listening we're all human that I think that's really important is not to beat yourself up.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:48

But I would say this Craig Zuber and Jordan Freed, some great coaches in my life and in our world, they talk about a 10 year letter. I'd highly recommend anyone listening now so you actually lay out what your life looks like in 10 years.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

I like that.

SPEAKER_03 37:01

And then you work backwards and say okay in 10 years I'd like it to look like this for instance. So one of the things we're exploring right now is a pool. Yes some people look at that as an expense we do not at all because our 13 year old and our nine year old what are they going to have more friends over. Do you want to be the house that all the friends are coming and you continue to spend time with your kids all day long. So I would say we're really intentional at the things we we do. I'm blessed to be one of Evelyn's basketball coaches. Well that means I'm at her basketball practice that also means I hear what her friends and there what they're talking about. So I can learn to be a better parent for her what are her needs what needs they have we also love going to sporting events. You were talking about U of A. I did mention this too I was a professor I was an adjunct professor I taught for four years principal of the city that's why you're passionate about U of A okay it's all coming together full circle. And my wife went to U of A and tried out and all the things and our kids love the Razorbacks and so do we I love the Razorbacks. She reminded me in 2020 she said I know we're still buying season tickets to Florida State football and Razorbacks she goes we're never moving back to Florida if you will so that's when we went all in too on the Razorbacks and I just love it being part of our community. But I think that tenure letter helps me say okay where do I want to be when the kids want to be okay what kind of car do we want them to have do we want them to have jobs they want to have college experience can that pivot and change for sure but still you're working to a plan. You're also saying too in and building your business and your wealth what does it look like you know as if they got into Harvard for instance they're gonna go we're gonna make sure that's paid for so we're working on a plan. Even though Cody says they're only going to be razorbacks so that's kind of late they're only going to be tried out it's already planned out for them. But back to that journey we're thinking about okay if they go to U of A, we need to buy an investment property. So somebody could decide now, okay, in four years I want to do that. Maybe they need to save a little bit but if they know a deal shows up because they understand a deal they could buy it and be ready to go. So see that's all about the 10-year vision working backwards. So I think that's important too about and like I said give yourself grace. I'm not perfect every day but I think that helps is knowing where we're going back to the beach house that's in the 10 year letter see and then you work backwards because I want to spend four to five weeks with my kids spring break, summers holidays at the beach house. So everyone's getting on board with the plan. So that's why you're working backwards. So that helps you be a better parent. I enjoy going to sporting events my kids love the sporting events so we have season tickets. Well now it's intentional to go okay we're gonna go to the basketball game. What's laid out we're gonna go to the baseball game. You could bring a friend to that so that's really a way of laying out your life and your plan and working backwards.

SPEAKER_00 39:36

Yeah so are you living your 10-year plan now? Like did you plan where you are now 10 years ago?

SPEAKER_03 39:41

I did not great question. Ten years ago I started in this world in Kelly Williams which is awesome. Some things are occurring but it wasn't a 10 year plan. I did the 10 year plan about two years ago I had the blessing of learning about it. But it's kind of funny even though you said that uh JPAT was our team leader that time 10 years ago he said hey see this building we're sitting in the Bentonville building you could be a part owner in this building see this market center Kelly Williams you can be a part owner in there fast forward I have done some of those things I actually own that building myself 100% wow that Keller Williams I bought 5% 10 now I'm the majority owner of that market center that office because he laid out a plan and that's what I love is having you mentioned great mentors and great people in your life to say hey here's the plan or here's the vision. So I do one thing is some things haven't happened in 10 years. They might take 12 they might take 13 but they're still on a plan you can work backwards. One of the things is I really wanted to be a pilot. Funny funny story yeah so I went got my health check to be a pilot and I laid out our goals Cody and I always every year work work on our goals. It's usually me saying here's my dreams and her saying I don't like 80% of those so that's how we usually uh negotiate is her saying I don't like that. So the pilot was one of them. She said I love you honey they'll let me drive them in the sprinter van and cars and stuff all over but she's like we're not gonna fly with you. So the kids and Cody decided they're not flying with me. So that came off the list. So I'm not gonna be a pilot anymore.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Maybe that can be your retirement goal.

SPEAKER_03 41:10

Exactly but as you know owning a private plane does have some tax benefits. So that needs to be in the plan too it's not a 10 year plan but we need to think about when that occurs and when that happens.

Sponsor Thanks And Closing

SPEAKER_00 41:20

Wow. Man Mike this has been this has been so great. I feel like I've gotten like a coaching session with you and I hope everybody listening really feels that way too and and just feels like they know you a little bit better because you are usually on the other side asking all the great questions. You've done such a good job curating guests um it's really it's phenomenal and for everyone listening you have to keep following along with Mike and he's going places he's gonna do big things and um I'm so lucky to be a part of this and keep giving love to the real Mike Dooley too.

SPEAKER_03 41:55

Leave comments um you know give the podcast some love anytime you leave a comment it helps uh the algorithm and so yeah thank you guys thank you we I couldn't do it without people like you thank you so much but again thank you to Mutual Omaha Mortgage who is our sponsor thank you so much for sponsoring the show and following along but again follow us on any one of the handles Aubrey will be working with me on it but real Mike Dooley we're on everything Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, but follow along thanks so much what a great show and I appreciate you asking me all those great questions. Love you guys have a great week thanks for listening to the Real Mike Dooley podcast. Subscribe share stay real I'm Mike Dooley. Until next time