Episode 216: The Monetary Evolution

“Once you learn how to solve a problem, you have a business.” 

A lot of you may know him as DeAndre but for this episode he will be referred to as Mr. Make It Happen. 

No matter what obstacle stood in the path, it never deterred DeAndre from continuing to focus on the grind and whatever it takes to move forward. All he needed was someone to take a chance on him and that all started with his first Airbnb booking. 

Tune in to episode 216 as DeAndre breaks down the process of renting out his home room by room, explains how he was able to solve a problem other hosts had been facing and much more! 

For more information:

Facebook: DeAndre Pierce 

Instagram: @deandre_pierceofficial 

Website: born2broyal.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Now, this episode was truly the definition of each one teach one. DeAndre took us all the way back to the pandemic and how working those long hours, how really being fed up with what he was doing and seeing others the ease at which money was coming to them. How basically being on his last really caused his mind to start spending and get as creative as possible, to really stepping in the financial services industry to assist people that were single, people that are family, people that are business owners and entrepreneurs, from then transforming that into an Airbnb rental service to even having his first guest the same name as him, he practically thought it was a joke. But then from there, realizing that he was solving a problem. And although he was local to Greenville, he then expanded to Raleigh and then so forth and so on. And he really recognized one main thing solve a problem and you have yourself a business. Now, I took a lot of gems away from this episode. I'm definitely hoping you do the same. So without further ado, enjoy episode 216, The Monetary Evolution.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

What's going on, everybody?

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Welcome back to another episode of the Down to Business Podcast here with Tamar Turner. So if you've really been tapping into my Facebook lives or my live episodes just in general, you'll actually be pretty familiar with this name because he's literally been interacting with every single episode that we've had recently, man. And I love it. Just one because I he's made the content just a little bit easier for me because I'm able to kind of throw questions or throw feedback at people on the spot. But two, man, I I really just got to give a big shout out to my to my bro DeAndre, man. I'm very happy that he's on the platform. As I was even telling him earlier today, like it felt like so long ago that he scheduled this interview. And at the time he did, August seems so far away. But now we're here, we're live and direct. And I mean, people hearing this like live, you'll know that it's August. But when this interview is aired, it won't even be August anymore. That just really goes to show you how much time has passed and things have gone. But nonetheless, the grind is still there and everything like that. So me and DeAndre, man, we go way back to the ECU to the alma mater day. Shout out to East Carolina University and Greenport, North Carolina. Shout out to my boy Dre, really, for bringing us together. His name is also DeAndre. So a lot of ties to the two five and a lot of ties just to some good people. But nonetheless, we were able to stay in contact. I was able to kind of politic with him, figure out what he has going on, what he's been doing, the impact he's been making in people's lives. And he's been following the podcast. As I said, he's been showing love, he's been making everything happen. So really excited for him to get into all things, how he can be a resource to you, how he can be a plug for you, and even how he can really just show support and love because that's something that he does just genuinely and authentically. But before we get into all things, before I bring everybody up to speed and we're all just rocking and rolling with the interview, Ray, how you doing today, man?

SPEAKER_00 2:45

How's everything on your end? How you been, bro? Hey man, all I can say is I'm blessed by the best, man. Everything is lovely. Life is going, life is growing, and I'm I'm excited about the ups. I'm even excited about the downs, man, because you know, doing those downs is when the grind really happens, and you really start to build that character and you know, build yourself when you go through the hard time. So definitely even excited about those, but everything is lovely, man.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Come on, man, I love that. Uh somebody looked at me crazy when I told them that just as you know, as as emphatic and as enthusiastic as you are at when things are going well, when business is booming, when those numbers are looking right, you have to have that same appreciation and that same grind when things aren't looking so right. Because you know, what nobody likes obviously when business is not doing what we want it to do, but that should just give you an appreciation for it. It could just let you know that one, it's not gonna be like this forever, but two, it'll give you even more of a blessing when you when you make it out of that. You know, tough times don't last, but tough people do for sure. So I love to hear that, bro. That through it all, you know, you're just remaining grateful, you're remaining humble, and it's it's it's exciting to see. So as I spoke to in the beginning, bro, we have a lot of ties, man, from North Carolina, ECU, and everything like that. So I know we're gonna have a crazy crowd tapping in with us. I know we're gonna have some people from your side, from my side, the mutual from both of our sides, but we're also gonna have some new people along the way, some people who know probably nothing about neither one of us, but came across this episode in some form and some fashion. So to bring everybody up to speed, to put everybody on the same page and on the same playing field, just do two things for me. One, tell me a little bit about yourself, and then two, tell me what brings you on the Down the Business Podcast today.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Well, first of all, starting off again, just in case you didn't see the name. My name is DeAndre Pierce. I am uh, I guess a multi-entrepreneur businessman, I guess you can say. I got multiple businesses right now going. I do anything from Airbnb to financial services. I help a lot of single, single people, families, even businesses, just kind of grow and expand their business, especially on the financial side. And I just also just like helping you know other entrepreneurs, man, just kind of find their motivation, find the time to you know increase their wealth, increase their mindset, increase you know their physical wealth as well. Because you look, health is wealth, man, health is wealth. So staying in the gym, staying active, always constantly grinding, because the grind don't stop, and I don't care who tells you the grind never stops. So, with that being said, I'm just one of those people who love the grind, who love motivating people, who love seeing people succeed and do better with their life. And I'm just somebody who just want to take the time to get on the down the business podcast because I see my boy tomorrow, and he just I love the fact that he started it and just kept going because I remember when he kind of when he first started it, the first couple episodes, the first few people, and he just kept being consistent with it. And just when seeing him be consistent with it time and time again, I was like, I need to get in contact, I need to start showing support, I need to start showing up, and I need to just be around this guy because this is somebody who obviously knows what he wants to do and he's doing it, regardless of what's happening, regardless of who's saying something to him, who's been in his air, he's somebody who I seen just constantly just continue to grind, and I love that, and I will continue to support that to the day I die, I promise you. So, again, my name is DeAndre Pierce. I'm a I'm a big fan of the down the down the business podcast. And hey, let's talk business.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

All right now, see, and what's so crazy about this, too. Kind of how Dre is giving y'all like his background and letting y'all really know how this came to fruition. DeAndre actually commented on one of my statuses. I don't I feel like it was an accolade or we had done something, I don't know if it was from the plays or the followers or something I had posted, and he commented, but he apologized, and he apologized for not being as tapped in as he wanted to be and just for kind of going ghost and everything like that. I was just taken aback because I was just like, man, like the fact that you even commented and saw this and showed love to it, that's enough for me. That put a smile on my face, that's a blessing, just the same. So the fact that you know there are people out there who are rooting for you, who are gunning for you. I may not talk every single day, y'all may not interrupt all the time, but there are people out there who are just in your corner, whether how however y'all became acquainted, whether it be school, work, friend of a friend, passing by in the street or anything like that, there are real life connections out here, but there are also real life people out here who are doing amazing things, as you spoke to from an Airbnb perspective, from a financial perspective, just wanting to really help, just wanting to be that light, that resource, that blessing to others that you necessarily didn't always have, or that you sometimes had to go through some trials and tribulations to really figure out what was going on and what was happening. So, all right, you you said a lot in the beginning. So I just want to dive right in. So financial now. So where did this, you know, obviously we know that there are just certain traits that you possess, there are just certain things that you like, you want to do, just certain things that are instilled in you. But when it came from a financial perspective, how did this really come about? Was this something that you were kind of just starting to seek education about? Was this something that you study? Was this kind of your bread and butter? And then you decided to just be a resource to others? Was this a personal experience? Were people kind of coming to you? Because oftentimes on this podcast, we recognize that a lot of people propel themselves into business or their brand or what they're doing because maybe of a problem that couldn't be solved, or maybe they even had a personal thing themselves. So for you, as you step into this, as you've done what you're doing, as you've done what you've done already, but you're continuing to do what you do, how did this start? Where did all this really begin?

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Well, well, to be honest with you, man, and and I'd like to keep as real as possible, man. Uh oh broke. I was broke. You can't, you can't, you can't, you know, you can't fake the funk, man. You cannot fake it, just like a lot of other people going through uh the things that they're going through right now that might have been home hard times. I know I was one of those people, especially uh like during the pandemic, man. When we go back to the pandemic, I was actually still working at this point. I was actually still working, I was an essential worker, so my work didn't stop because of COVID. Yay. Uh, but man, just doing it every day, just going in, man. And I was working at this, you know, actual pharmaceutical manufacturing plant just every day, going in working 12, 14 hour days. And I just got to the point where I was on a lunch break, believe it or not, and I was on Facebook, and I seen something where they had you know Facebook gaming at the time, and then I started. I knew about streamers, but I did not know about the online game streamers. But then when I finally I actually seen somebody actually stream online and I looked at what they was doing, and they was playing Call of Duty because I like play call of duty a lot, and and I was looking at them playing, I was like noticing, hey, people sending them money, they are they getting paid to do this. Then I realized they get paid for followers, they get paid for subscribers, they get paid for the likes. I'm like, I'm sitting here working 14 hour days while somebody at home playing Call of Duty getting paid. I looked around like I just discovered a miracle. I'm like, Ain't nobody else, ain't nobody else see this stuff, and that's what really kind of sparked that journey uh for me basically as trying to be entrepreneur and really just trying to get out that nine to five work life, um, and just trying to find my own thing, find my own way to build, and it just started from there. Uh, of course, I ain't gonna go all in detail because we ain't got enough time to go through my struggles, okay. We just ain't got it, but just to kind of sum it all up, I I got to a point where I ended up losing that job because of the whole COVID thing. I end up losing in a marriage, man. It was a whole it was a whole backstory. Well, but the to sum it again. I was broke, man. I needed money, I'm three months behind on mortgage. Okay, and and I just the only thing I could do is go back to one of my first original jobs was work at Starbucks, man. So imagine have to pay a mortgage where you make $12 an hour. That was super fun. So from there, you know, still try to do the online streaming thing while trying to do my own thing. So I start working back at Starbucks, and I just started off with like DoorDash, Ubi Eats, and stuff like that. Something where it's building my character and just building, like doing my own thing because I knew I was not gonna stay at Starbucks, I knew that for sure. I made a promise myself I was not gonna get stuck here, right? Because you can't you don't want to go backwards, right? And I got up to a point where I had house, I was married, I had a whole bunch of stuff, and I'm not trying to lose whatever I had left at this point. And when you're broke, and I'm sure a lot of people might be able to relate to this when you're broke, when you're down, when you have nothing coming in, you have no idea how you're gonna eat the next day, your mind gets creative. Okay, your mind gets creative, and don't ask me why, but for whatever reason, for months, I was in this house by myself for months at this point, and I'm three months behind on my mortgage by this point, and it finally clicked on my mind like, hey, I got all this space to myself. I either need to get a roommate to help pay for some of these bills. I don't really want a roommate, so what else? What else is that? What else out there? Then for out of nowhere, man, you know, you go through YouTube and you're seeing different things, especially when you start looking up business stuff, you're gonna find something, right? And I seen something dealing with Airbnb, and I just started watching videos to start learning about Airbnb, and I started reaching out to people who had businesses that might know something about Airbnb, and I just found myself, I'm like, okay, right. Only thing I can see happen now is I started Airbnb and I don't know, somehow make some money. So that just started with that. I literally took the worst pictures pictures you can think of. I mean, I had like an old iPhone, I don't know what it was, seven at a time. I don't know, it was old, it was old iPhone. I took like some of the worst pictures, worst lighter, and I just put them all up on my Airbnb. I didn't I did not realize I actually made my Airbnb go live. I didn't realize that. I thought I just had it sitting down. Plus, I didn't think anybody would even book, you know. Look at these pictures, you're not gonna stay here. But lo and behold, later, I think maybe three three days later, somebody instant book. If you know anything about that, somebody instant book on Airbnb, and I'm just chilling in the house, you know, I'm having a good old time. And I don't know what I get a message saying, Hey, can I check in early? I'm like, who, huh? What? And it was weird because that my first guest actually had the same name as me. It was another DeAndre. So I'm like, okay, I don't know who's playing this game with me. I'm looking around, like, is this a joke? But nah, that person was serious. That person's like, hey, I need to check in early because I'm already here in Greenville. So I had two options here. I really was considered saying, No, man, I can't do it because I was just wasn't ready. I just posted pictures and I didn't know how it was gonna work. I didn't know if I really want to do it, but I had that moment of myself, and everybody's gonna have that moment, especially when you when you're down and you ain't got no choice, you're gonna have that moment where you tell yourself, either this time to fold or we're gonna make it happen, no matter what. And I decided to say, Oh, you know what, I'm gonna make it happen. And I I invited the guest over, great guy again, named DeAndre, so it was super weird but cool at the same time. And I had just I just lungs with him. Like, hey man, I'm gonna let you know. I appreciate you very much because you're my first guest, man. Congratulations! And it just started from there, man. I and I was even adding stuff into the room, like I brought in a mini fridge and everything. I bought a new TV, I was doing everything I needed to do to make it happen because that was like five hundred dollars. Okay, for somebody who had no money, and I'm just chilling because I'm trying to well, I'm like, the lights gonna get turned off at some point. I might enjoy it while I can, right? So five hundred dollars on my first guest, man, and stay for a couple days, and I was hooked after that. So that started the the journey into Airbnb, which led again into that financial industry because again, it's money, right? I need money, I I like learning about money, I like growing, and it just kind of sparked the whole I guess the mission to learn about one generational wealth and two never going broke again. So I learned about sales along with the Airbnb, which led into the sales, so it all kind of folded from that. I hope I answered that question.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Nah, absolutely, and it really just helps to to know the journey, to know the backstory to it, to really know that as you said, when you're on your last, when you wake up, that almost kind of took me back to some grad school days at some point where you know I went from working three jobs to all of them through the university, and once classes were done, the jobs were done. So you talk about you know being somewhere, being away from home, being by yourself, and still having a fan for yourself, have to shop for yourself, have to eat for yourself, still have to go to class, have to do these stories, have to get to the stories because grad school, they're not holding your hand anymore, they're not trying to walk you through anything. So you have to figure out how you're gonna Uber, how you're gonna live, or you could hit hack a rod somewhere or do something like that. So it's just like it's it's very interesting. But as you said, you know, when you're down on your last and you have to make ends meet, or you have certain deadlines or certain bills that just have no waiting period, you're you know, you're you're gonna figure out some things, you're gonna get on that YouTube and go down that dark hole and figure out what's next, or or where do I need to be or what am I doing? So, no, to really hear that and to really hear that in a sense, like somebody almost like y'all both took a leap of faith in a sense, you know, like he didn't really know kind of what was going on with the Airbnb, probably saw the list. And you'll be surprised, you know, for you how critical you were of the photos and everything like that. Even in this day and age, I've clicked on some Airbnbs, and it's just like, how did they even let you list this? This is the thing that shouldn't be, you know, up here. But it just goes to show you that you know, everybody has that starting point. But for you, it was almost like a miracle, and it was almost just like, wow, you didn't really know, you thought it was a joke, you didn't really take it serious at first, and it was just like, come on. But as you really realize the blessing and as you start to see things come to fruition, you're like, okay, hold on, this is something different now. Let's try to let's really revamp this thing and let's really make something happen from it. So, at what point did you really realize that you wanted to make a business out of this? You know, because it's one thing to make a list, and people can invest, people can do you're you know, there are probably people out there right now that have Airbnb or Airbnbs and don't necessarily consider themselves a brand or a business, but more so maybe just trying to do something on the side, make some money, supplement some things, pay some bills, do whatever. But at what point did you really realize that you wanted to really go all in on this? Was it after this client did things start to pick up? Did it motivate you to kind of do more? Because even as you said, you started to you started to add stuff to from the TV to the mini fridge to really let's really make this thing come together. So, where where along the at what point did you start to really realize, okay, like hey, this can really make some money if one client, if one customer is bringing that in, then if I keep listening, this if I keep making it happen, if I keep making improvements and enhancements, we can really make some money from this. When did that light bulb go off for you?

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Uh I'm gonna answer there, but I'll I'll first want to address this. What y'all don't know is yet see y'all wasn't there, you see. Y'all wasn't there. My boy was only in like maybe three places. Either he was at a gym playing ball or he was working. Well, he was at the gym playing ball, working, or in class. And he me he hanged up a little bit, but uh my man was on it. Now I I ain't forget that. I definitely knew that for a fact. So I just wanna I just want to let y'all know he's real now. He's not just somebody get up on his podcast and just ask questions. Now he he was doing it okay for a long time. But uh just to answer your question, it really started, it was after the first guest, because you know, you're thinking it's a flute, you know, it ain't gonna happen again. Plus, I had like maybe five days right after he left, and he stayed, he extended his stay, so his was like a week and maybe a little bit after. But after he extended his stay, I didn't have anybody booked for like five days, so now I was freaking out. So I'm like, dang, did I was that it? Is it all it's gonna be? And then for and I mean, I even you know, I'm asking reaching out to friends that got other Airbnbs too, because somebody who I trusted and I talked to about it. He's like, you know what, don't worry about it, it happens sometimes. Just just keep going, just just know somebody's gonna come. And literally, like maybe not even a whole day after that conversation, somebody booked. I think by that second guess, by that second guest booking, I I think that's when it clicked for me. It's like, okay, people want to stay here. Okay, people for whatever reason, I got a second person. If I can get a if I got the first person and then end up getting the second person too, they're gonna be a third. So from that point on, it kind of just clicked on my mind like, okay, I need to go ahead and LLC. All right, I need to go ahead and establish myself. I need to go ahead and get my mindset in the in the spot that it needs to be because I have three bedrooms and I'm only renting out one, and I just made over $500. So I don't have another, I didn't have another bed in that second bedroom at the time. So I was like, okay, I just need to get a second bedroom. Because in my mind, I'm like, well, if I'm rent, I'm staying there at the time I'm renting out one bedroom, only one bedroom, y'all. Only one bedroom. If I rent out a second bedroom, I can double my money here. We talking about mortgage paid, okay. We look, well, I look getting excited. You talking about because when you ain't have nothing, then you talking about now. I can double my money just by adding a bed and a TV or something. Let me tell you, I door dashed so much, okay. I was at Starbucks happy swinging coffee out the window. Heck, I was probably giving stuff out for free. If you see me there in Greenville, North Carolina, by the by ECU, right close to the school. I you probably see my face, and I was giving that stuff out for free. So you missed out if you wasn't there, but um I know I definitely made as much money as I could. I saved it and I started, you know, adding on to the second room, and then I doubled my money. So I'm like, well, dang, I need to get out the house so I can triple my money. And I'm gonna be honest with you. I knew it was a business out and I love started talking about it then because I started talking about people I was working with and different things like that now, and just trying to find other people like-minded, and with you, I'm pretty sure you can understand it's not easy, it's not easy finding other people with that same mindset, with that same drive, with that same, you know, go get a spirit. Like it's there, it's a lot of people that say that, but it's not a lot of people that actually do it, so that's why I appreciate you a whole lot because I see you do it, and I'm talking about it, man. I'm trying to find other people like-minded just so I can see what else can I do. Now that I've I've I've started this brain child, and I know I have a business and I know it's working, I know it's gonna work long as I keep it working, right? Long as I keep guests happy and I keep them going. I just need to get out the house because I got a three-bedroom, two bath, and be honest with you, it's still it's still staying booked now. I can barely even rent out the whole house, which I want to do, but people just been booking, man, left and right since I started, bro. And this is over two years ago. So I barely had an empty room since I started this thing, and I didn't realize that most people don't book room by room. You got some people that do it, but it's not a lot of us. And I end up leaving the house to book out the whole house, each room individually, and I end up moving up to Raleigh, North Carolina, and I got into the Raleigh Airbnb Facebook group, which is here's a key point to a lot of you entrepreneurs out here. Facebook groups. Listen to me, join groups, find as many as people like minded trying to do what you're trying to do. Do or just join groups that with businesses where you can get ideas of what you want to do. But anyway, back to the point, I joined the Airbnb Facebook groups and I just put out there, hey, I'm new. Thank you for having me. I I rent out this listing. I have three listings, right? And I rent out room by room. I'm thinking other people do this. I'm thinking other people do this. I'm thinking this is a normal thing because I really haven't chance to interact with other people in the Airbnb space. Coming to find out, no, no, not a lot of people doing room by room. And now I get bombarded with questions all the time about how do I do it. So, in a nutshell, the idea, the brain, the it clicked for me, knowing that I had something after the second guest that led to opening up the whole house eventually, and that led to me getting into these Facebook groups and learning that I do something that most people don't do, which means what I can now solve problems. So here's another key for a lot of you entrepreneurs out there, especially ones that want to get started. Once you learn how to solve a problem, you have a business, you can make money. All you have to do is find a problem and solve it. You can make money. So I hope I answered the question. I like to go off in tangibles. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 23:12

But that's fine because I feel like with each, as we you want to call it a tangent, I just call it that's part of the journey. That's a part of the story that that it would led to what it is now. So I but I'm big on that. You know, a lot of as I kind of spoke to before as I was asking the question, a lot of what propels business, what propels LLCs, products, services, are either people having a personal problem themselves that they found no solution for and they wanted to take matters into their own hands, or they saw a commonality uh uh amongst people. This person is having that problem, this person is having that same problem, so is he, so is she, so are they, so is that. Okay, well, if if everybody is having it, then there must not be a succinct solution here. Let me come into play now, let me so. As you said, you know that why a lot of times is the solving of said problem, or it's more so you came in with one aspect, you know, you came in just because you were on your lash, you were trying to get that mortgage paid, you were trying to make shaking big, you were trying to put some income into DeAndre's pocket, into his life, and now all of a sudden you join a group and you realize that where you were coming for advice and insight and gems. Oh, now I got oh, people are coming to me for I thought I was I thought I was the novice, I thought I was the new person, but now each one each one type of mentality. So I love to hear that just the same because it's just like you never know what to expect until you really put yourself out there, and a lot of times until you surround yourself with that like-minded, which is a difficult thing to do, and it can sometimes it can deter you, it can discourage you a little bit when you feel like there's nobody out there, or there are not people out there that can resonate with what you're doing, or resonate maybe with what you're saying, or maybe you just feel like your network is just not on that time or on that grind. Because as you said, the grind does not stop. We go to bed, we end this interview, we experience tomorrow, we go into the weekend, the grind is still going. It's to the point now where you said that thing is booked and busy. So even with you being a city over, you still have to make sure that things are taken care of, that it's clean, that people aren't messing up, that people aren't damaging properties, because that's a whole nother discussion of yourself. You know what I'm saying? Just dealing with people not staying in their own things because people, oh, they're gonna treat your stuff like it's the bottom of the barrel, and it could be the nicest thing in the world. You know what I'm saying? So I understand that. So, okay. So now as we continue to fast forward, as you're gaining this traction, as you're getting more gems, you're in the groups, you're realizing that you're you're even able to give some people some insight and and really some tips and tricks as to how you kind of made it happen. What was next on your docket? What was something that you know as you got into the Airbnb, the more comfortable you got with it, the more you know success you had with it? Why why did you continue to keep going? Why didn't you just really hone in on that and really just keep taking properties and keep taking properties? Why did you decide to kind of well, I guess I kind of answered that a little bit, but why did you, in a sense, why did you start to pivot? Why did you start to get into different industries and get into different lanes rather than just kind of capitalizing on one?

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Uh great question. What a lot of it is if I had I already had something going in Greenville, North Carolina, this is what Airbnb is, then I come to Raleigh, North Carolina, unless you especially in like by this time it's like end of 2022, maybe going into 2023 at that point. Unless you got a lot of money stacked up, you getting a house, especially in the Raleigh area, it's gonna be a little difficult. So that's when I really had to pivot. Like Greenville is still a decent place if you want to actually invest into it. I do recommend still Greenville. Greenville's a great place to start investing. Um, however, if you're in Raleigh, North Carolina, it's a little different, different, different ball game, it's a little bit oversaturated with Airbnbs as well. So in my mind, I'm like, what can I do? Because I don't got a lot of lump sum capital sitting around, right? Because I'm still trying to you know pay down debts and keep a mortgage going and keep all this stuff going. So what else is there for me to do? So once I got into the Airbnb Facebook groups and I'm looking at everybody else's Facebook and seeing heard them talk and stuff like that, something clicked in my mind that I know I needed because it since I wasn't there at the Greenville property myself anymore, I had to make sure somebody took the trash to the road to get picked up on time. And I saw thinking about that. Mom's like, you know, it's probably some other Airbnb hosts out here that need that same thing. So I decided while I was working, still working a full-time job, okay, working at 7 to 3, 7 to 3 p.m., eight hours work days. I'm out there sitting thinking, I'm like, I think I can make some money because it's a problem. I've done this already, I just solve a problem. So I started thinking to myself, like, I wonder how much I can make moving a trash can. I mean, it's super easy, something I can do on the side, right? And I went through some numbers, I'm like, well, that's not worth it, and it's not worth it, especially going through the Raleigh traffic. I don't know if anybody been to Raleigh or Durham, anything like that, but the traffic is trash. Okay, it's trash. Um I started thinking to myself, what can I do? And I came up with a price that I was set on. I wasn't sure if it was gonna work, but what I did was I knew if I if I build it, right? That's the mindset. If you build it, they're gonna come. Very old, very simple. If you build it, they will come. You just gotta believe in it, right? And I just I decided to put it out there in the group, say, hey, I offer a trash can service. I know some other hosts might hear might need it. I will DM you or let me know if you're interested. And I have a couple people be interested, and I just message them and say, Hey, I do this trash can service. Well, I make sure the trash get taken out on time. $85 a pop. And somebody said yes. And it was there was down once you start with the one, once you get the one, I promise you the rest will come. So if anybody started that business, anybody got that idea in their head, just understand this. And I promise you, you're gonna hear it from other people too. Just start. Once you start and you get that first client or you get that first business opportunity, I promise you, more will come. I can't, I can't explain it to you no better than that. More will just come, and and from there, and we haven't been a whole year yet doing this, by the way. Uh, we at 23 properties now making it about 85 pop a little bit more because we do some extra stuff, but again, this is just another side business, right? Outside of the Airbnb, it's still in the Airbnb space, right? So I'm still in Airbnb. I might not have my own here on Raleigh, but I'm helping other hosts because I'm solving a problem for them, and which is there's still many more things that other Airbnb hosts need. So if you're looking at this and watching this back in the future tense, well, we know you look do look at it, just know there is still a chance for you to get out to the Airbnb host into the Airbnb space and find a problem that they need fixing. Like whether it's just putting furniture together, believe it or not, they got thing called Task Rabbit. You can do Task Rabbit or beyond Task Rabbit. Uh, if you got a car and you don't want to do Uber E's and stuff, believe it or not, there are other hosts that's trying to do like their own car service. Like if somebody wants to rent a car in like the the what's called it, uh turbo sp not turbo space, but uh turbo space, yeah. In the Toro space, believe it or not, just rent out a car, and it don't have to be the most grandest car ever, just something something very basic, plain, simple, plain j and get you from here to there in good condition. I promise you, you will make money. So there's millions of ways to make money, and I'm just talking about one particular way in the Airbnb space, which is still still huge. So even beds, some people flip beds, believe it or not. People sell Airbnb sell beds to Airbnb hosts and make money like that. They rent out beds, it's it's the thing, so it's it's possible.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

It's a lot out here, man. And and just to put it into perspective for y'all a little bit, he said that he charges $85 a pop for 23 properties that he's at right now. 23 times 85 is 1955. So just wanted to throw some numbers out there. I'm a math guy, so just wanted to in case we peak anyone's fancy or and gain any interest or anything, just to allow you to really realize, you know, there is everything out there. You know, a lot of people are doing the affiliate marketing, the digital marketing, the content creation, the influencer, there are so many streaming. And you spoke a lot about that. I didn't really realize how lucrative esports and just that industry was really until I went to grad school, and until I met a dude, shout out to Dom. He was so good at Fortnite. We would just go to his house to go to his room and just watch him play for hours. And this dude was ranked, this dude was just making it look easy and he was making money. And that's eventually what he went on to like study and really just be good at. But to now, see, you know, these Twitch streamers and these people who make in real life thousands and millions, and even some of my close people do this stuff and they're on every day. And sometimes you laugh at it, but it's just like, no, these people are from the comfort of their homes making great money. So, as you said, you know, I feel like there are so many different niches out there, it's more so just about exposing yourself to it, or what may seem silly, or what may seem like, oh, I don't want to do that, or I'm gonna get laughed at or made fun of. It could be the reason how your rent or your mortgage gets paid next month. So you'd really be surprised what putting yourself out there, what sometimes making yourself uncomfortable does because as you spoke to all it takes is one, it just takes that one person because then that one person has a network and that one person has mutuals and word of mouth and everything like that. And even if it's not even anything where they can bring you something from a referral perspective or add to the business, they add to it because they bring you motivation. Because as you said, this went from a thing of he put the pictures up, he's like, I don't really think it's gonna do too much, but that one person lit a fire in him, and now he's just like, Okay, well, what can I do to spruce this up? What can I do to make this look better? What can I do to make sure that the next person wants to come and has a great experience? Or the or the person who's here now, they extend their stay. What can I do to get myself out of this house so I can now triple my money, double my money, triple my money? So it also gets your brain to start thinking too, okay. If I did this this one time with this situation and how I was set up now, imagine what I could do if I wasn't even here. Imagine what I could do if I rent out this whole thing, and then imagine what I could do if I'm a um assistant and a light and a plug to other people. Oh, it's either than that. Now we're starting to talk, now we're starting to get some things on the ground. So, but I love that, you know, because it'll really go to show the beauty of the journey. And as you said, it'll even speak to your appreciation. You're appreciating the good with the bad, the pretty with the ugly, the high with the low. You have to take each in stride, but you have to take it all. You can't just say, Oh, when I'm getting booked and busy, oh, I'm praising the Lord, I'm singing, I'm doing this and that. But on my slow months, I'm just like that same energy, you still have to move and you move because as you said, the grind don't stop. You you take a slow month and you decide to just fall back, or it's going to get even slower for you. I'm gonna grind to make sure I don't. The ball is in your court at that point, you know what it is. So I love to hear that. So, okay, so now that you've relocated, now that you're in a different place, but you have a listing here, and now that you have responsibilities here, now that you're offering a service and you're helping people out, what were you thinking? Were you starting to feel overwhelmed? Were you starting to just have to feel like you needed to automate things, you needed to delegate things? Were you starting to want to bring other people in? Is this something where you wanted to venture? Because as you said, you had a community, you built a community, you inserted yourself into a community, and everybody was probably at a different space and a different place there. So as you started to gain this traction, as you started to gain the success, but also at the same time be a resource and a light to others, where was your mind at? What did you really want to do? How did you in the end, what were you thinking when it came long term?

SPEAKER_00 34:29

Man, you asked some great questions, man. Y'all, but he's professional. See, he said, you know how to ask some questions, bring it out. But the idea, and I'm gonna say this again for a lot of the entrepreneurs out there your business needs to not become your business. Okay, I don't I don't know how else to explain that more. So when I say your business needs to not become your business, is that you need to create a business in order for you not to be able to run it in the next couple years, that makes sense, right? So even with the Airbnb, because I'm I'm away from I'm not there to see it myself. I have built a team, right? I built a team to manage it for me, a team of people I trust, people I know, I've edited, right? To manage it, to keep it clean, to talk to the guests, and and you know, keep it running while I'm not there. I haven't be honest with you, I haven't been to the Airbnb in months at this point, and I don't need to, I don't need to be there because I have a I got a property manager, I got somebody do the cleaning, I got somebody to cut the grass, I got handymans. So again, this is gonna go out to anybody that wants to start a business. Usually, when you start, especially when you don't have a lot of capital, you're probably gonna do a lot of physical labor or physical type of work, probably a lot of you know card detailings and different things like that. Anything physical and manual label, it's fine, great, start it, still do it. However, you need to start thinking future-wise, you need to get to the point where it's like, okay, how can I duplicate myself? Because if I can duplicate myself, I can not only make more money, yes, but the key here, especially for every business person, is to get more time back. So I didn't do I got Airbnb started right because I needed money, yes, but I kept it going because I wanted my time back, right? And also I started the the second business as well, because now that I'm not there all day Airbnb like focusing on it. I have time now to focus on something else. So, what else can I do to bring another stream of income in, right? And which is also gonna lead to when I started the second business with the trash cans, is the same thing. I have a team, I'm building a team. I got a partner who I do to do split it up with, and we also bring in like a third person, and we plan on expanding, not just doing just moving trash cans because literally, we just moved the trash can from the house to the road and back to the house. That is it, and I get paid for it. So now, like, what else can I do? Which is probably what I kind of want to do in the first place. Was I wanted to be able to just clean the trash cans because cleaning trash cans is a thing too. So a little which I need to go to Florida, by the way, which probably gonna see me in the next year or so down there, because there's a company in Florida that has they they do a lot of stuff in Florida, but they have it's a company in Florida that builds machines that clean trash cans for you, eco-friendly. And I'm in I'm the type of person was like as much as I love coming up with my own business, right? I'd much rather, and I and I'm telling you now, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. Go and buy another business. Okay, they already have it set out, they already got the machines, they already got the plans, the layouts, they got the contacts. I'd much rather have bring some money to them and have them help me build it with everything they already have. So uh turnkey, that's what you want. You want something turnkey that you don't have to think about or do you just as soon as you get it started, it's making money, okay. You start from the bottom like I did when you ain't got none. But once you get something, if you got some money coming in or little something you can put to the side to build up or save, do that and buy business is already successful, okay? So you don't have to become you know Einstein and recreate something, right? But I I'm saying all this to lead me into another business again because I just do it so well, I got the free time. I I work, yeah. I don't let you know. Tomorrow works, I work. People that they got this mindset, we work and we don't take the days off. Yeah, we might take a little small break, but I promise you, even doing that, that brain is working. Uh I promise you, every time the brain is working. So, with that being said, this is how I got into that financial services industry because I got still got the free time on my hands, right? So now it's getting to the point where okay, I understand money, but I need to understand it just a little bit more so where I can not only just do Airbnb, but I can do a whole lot more. Because to be honest with you, I probably want to build a whole city at this point in my mind. Like I want to build hotels, I want to make you know, apartment complexes, houses, gardens. It's just a whole thing with me. But sorry, I don't mean to be on a tangent, but uh but I got into the financial service industry, so not only do I help people out with Airbnb, but just in general with money, right? Because I want to be that source, I want to be somebody you can depend on because I didn't have somebody I can depend on. I had to go through YouTube. All my people I'm friends with, I guess what in my mind, they on YouTube. They do them, they doing the motivational speakers, they podcast, they doing, they teaching. Those are people I hang out with, right? And now I'm starting to grow and network and do more things in real life. But YouTube podcast, the down the business podcast, listen to it, turn it on, forget your music. Music is nice and all, but I promise you, when you when you at the bottom, when you need money, when you if you like somebody like I like I was, you don't have time to listen to music, you have time to listen to how to make money. So that's what I did, and got into the financial services and then learned how to grow money, how money expands, how money works. And now I'm on the path of trying to teach others how to create generational wealth. So that's what it's gonna come down to. The generational wealth is what I want to create for not just for my family, but for tomorrow's family, for everybody else's family that I come across, or anybody that's interested in expanding right their knowledge on money, knowledge on wisdom, and and it ties it always gonna tie back into your spirit life and your health and your wealth, right? Always gonna tie together so that generational wealth is gonna create that safe space to okay, let me eat healthier. I I got the money, that's why I want to want people to be at. I don't have to keep eating trash because that's all I can afford. I want it to be our option, if anything, right? I want your family to feel like okay, we don't have to be on the worst side in the neighborhood, right? We can we can move, we can leave, we don't have to stay if we have them problems, right? I want that to be what I do, I want that to be what I what I can help bring to other people's lives. I want people to have options, and I want and I know creating generational wealth does that, and I hope I answered the question.

SPEAKER_02 41:06

No, for sure. I I it's funny that you kind of ended it like that just because, like, uh, I was actually just joking with some friends. I was in Raleigh this past weekend, ironically, and we were it's some I can't remember what came up or what we were talking about, but it came along the lines of something cheap. Maybe it was food or like fast food or something. And I used the line I said, look, we we're not we're not broke anymore, we don't have to do that anymore. You know, we don't have to we don't have to resort back to that. So I I I firmly agree with you know, as you start to move into different tax brackets, move into different mindsets, move into different communities and just different groups, because a lot of times, too, it's about who you surround yourself with. What are you talking about, how are you talking to yourself? What are you waking up every day? What are you affirming? What are you manifesting? Things that I would say I didn't really take as seriously back then that I take seriously now have worked monuments in my life, you know. So it's just about too, as you start to upgrade, as you start to work your way up that totem pole or move to that hierarchy, you realize that there's a different side of life to live, that these people aren't just like doing what they're doing just to do it, like they're doing what they're doing because they can do it and because they see the benefits of it, and because they were once not doing it and they recognize that they don't want to be back there, they don't want to revert back to that lifestyle or what they were doing, but they also then want to pass that on. As you said, we want this to be generational, we don't want this to stop with us and just what we have going on. And if at that point the impact wasn't nearly as as great or as as monumental as it could have been. If I'm continuing this for after I'm gone for my grandkids, grandkids, and my great, then I know that I did what I had to do, but I also know that I instilled that into others, into the people around me. And I feel like that's the biggest thing with that. And the fact that you, you know, I'm I always commend and take my hat off, imaginary, to people who go through things, trials, tribulations, were down low, were broke, were on their last, didn't necessarily know what was going to happen next. But one, work themselves out of that, but then two, want to pay it forward and want to make sure that other people don't have to go through that. That takes a lot, you know. It takes a because you don't owe anybody anything, you know. When you were down, when you were on your last or whatever, who was there for you in a sense? Who were you listening to? Where were you at when you were waking up and you were behind on that mortgage or you were trying to figure out the next meal? Where were those people at? But now that you're in the position to be able to do that, now that you're the motivation, and now that you're the light, and now that you're on Front Street for others, I could then just keep it the way that I want to. And some people may look at that career, some type of way, but I don't owe anybody anything because when I needed something or when I felt like I was owed what I had to do, I had to work my way out of that grind and really grind harder. You know, it was either stay broke or figure something out to get this mortgage paid before I get evicted or before I'm really nowhere to rent anything out. You know what I'm saying? So it's just like the fact that then people take their trial, their tribulation, and they turn it into a success story, but then they also pay it forward and they also make sure that the next man doesn't have to go through what they went through, or we can expedite. Or I can put everything in front of you to give you the resources. I think that's enough in itself. And I love to hear that, man. I think it just takes a special type of person to be able to do that. And that's not to knock anybody who's not doing that. Because as again, you can make it out of where you made it out of, come from the bottom, do whatever, and be okay and live your life on your own terms. That's perfectly fine. But as I said, it just tugs at my heartstrings when I see other people wanting to do that because that's the big thing here with the podcast. I just want to be able to educate. I just want to recognize that there were a lot of things that I did not know about from real estate to healthcare to clothing to the entertainment industry to artificial intelligence to college planning. I thought I talked to every single industry, even industries that I didn't even know existed at this point. And I've learned things, I've heard terminology, I've even asked questions that may seem like I'm asking it for my audience, but I'm asking it for myself because I don't know things. And I'm just trying to figure out hey, what you just said a word there, and I feel like you said that word as if I should know what that means, but I don't know what that means. So can you tell me what that means, please? Like, but I'm gonna say, hey, my audience doesn't know what that means. What does that mean? You know what I'm saying? So I feel like the fact that at the end of the day, paying it forward that education, wanting somebody to be better off than how you met them, that it just takes a different type of person to be able to do that, bro. And that drive is totally different. So, okay, I'm hearing that you know, business was just propelling business, idea was just propelling idea, but I'm also hearing that, you know, you had to to the average, not the average person, but let me play devil's advocate in a sense, and not really an advocate, but I want to ask this question the way that I want to ask it. So I I know that let's just say I want to get involved with Airbnb, but let's just say I feel like you had a special scenario in which you already had a property that you took advantage of and you chose to rent that out and then make it happen and then get enough success, build enough reports, and then be able to get out of that property, completely make it available, and now we're here. What do you say to someone who wants to get into Airbnb, who wants to start this process, who wants to get into that education and things like that, but are not necessarily in your situation of more so having something that they can rent out? How can people get into Airbnb? How can people really start to make money in this lane if they don't necessarily feel like they have an offering or have something to give to people right away?

SPEAKER_00 46:13

That was a great question. Um, and I'm glad you asked that because it's gonna be somebody that looked back at this and be like, Well, how did you do it? You probably already had a house, and yes, yes, I did. It was a very special situation, and that's why I was blessed to have it all praises. And you know, again, even if you're not in and if you didn't have my situation where you had a house before pre-COVID, before you know the spikes of the prices and everything went up. This again, I just explained there's plenty of ways to get into it. The main thing is, and I want people to understand this it it takes money to make money, like it takes money to make money, even starting the Airbnb. It it took money, like I had to buy the house regardless, or I had to get the things for the house, I had to buy a bed, I had to do all the stuff. So that means I had to go to work, you know, I had to do stuff I didn't want to do, like far as just working a whole nine to five job, and nobody really wants to continue to work for a job that you know you don't want to be at, especially when you feel like you're not growing, but it's just one of them things, especially when you're at the bottom, and if you like if you like out how I was and you didn't have anything, you have to work, like there's no other way around it. You have to work and make money, okay? Just make enough money. That's all you have to do is make enough money. And with that being said, if you can make just enough money, you can also get into Airbnb arbitrage. There's a whole nother route you can go, which I'm I believe you have somebody that talked about that before, but uh yeah, the Airbnb arbitrage, man, that's a great way to go. Um, far as you don't have to own the property, right? You just have to be able to know how to you just have to be able to manage the property, okay. Property management, or you can do something similar to what I do, like I said, you find a problem that they have and make money off of that far as dealing with trash cans because you know what I'm not in every city, so wherever you're watching is that it might be available in your city, you might got some Airbnb hosts around. You just gotta figure out you just gotta get into them, you gotta talk to them, you gotta reach out to them, right? So they might be needed where you at. I can't be everywhere, right? And I mean, like I said, the the tour road, the cars, I mean, cutting grass, believe me, Airbnb hosts need cutting grass, putting ferns together. Making I I do another uh task, which I again I'll give y'all all the sauce. I'm pretty transparent with what I do. Um, I do a what I call a runner service as well on top of the uh trash can service, well, which is basically I'm already going to their property already, so now I'm adding a service where I check in on a property when there's not a guest there, like I make sure stuff is not broken, you know, the toilet's still flushing, the light bulbs are working, the air filters get changed, little simple stuff like that. People will pay you money for that. And if you just again you get that first one, you're gonna get more, and you just continue to do that right until you just got enough money. Now it's just comes with that discipline, right? After the words, you gotta have that discipline not to spend your money on the little stuff. And a lot of people, when you first get a business, you're gonna make money. And in the beginning, I promise you, you're gonna spend that money because you're like, Oh, I got extra money now, this then a third, but then you forget that guess what? When you got a business, at some point, something's gonna break. And I learned that when I had Airbnb. I had no problems when I was staying there, but when I moved out, the doors want to break, windows want to get messed up, furniture need to get replaced, beds need to get replaced, wash and dry, break. Okay, it's gonna happen. So while you're going through your journey, while you're making money and while you start growing, learn how to put some money aside, or just don't spend the money until you really need to spend it. Okay, and that's one of the best things I can tell you with that. But outside of that, I want to just plug in my service real quick because this is just one of the things that is helping other people get into Airbnb, into rental properties and things as well. Get into the financial services with what I do. You can do it part-time, you can do this full-time if you really so choose. I do still recommend doing part-time until you really establish yourself, but you can get into the financial services. Find me, you find me on the social media, I can help you get there. You can make commission money, you get paid commissions. There's not a base pay, not a not a salary pay, which is great. You don't want that because with commission pay, and this is for those that want to get into buying your own properties and later on in the future, you have to work, right? Get a job where you sell. If you can sell something, I promise you, you can make a lot of money by selling. So, this is something you can get into with the financial services, selling products, right? Selling products or selling a service with us. That's what you do financial services. All you do is help clients set up uh maybe some dealing with life insurance, maybe helping them set up a retirement plan, maybe help sell with their college planning, or maybe some long-term care comes into place, whatever the case is, right? People need help, especially in today's time with financial services. So, this is an opportunity for those out there that's looking for something part-time or maybe looking for something full-time to get started with it. Okay, there's no cap. Okay, you can make as much money as you want to make. This is your business, just like any other business. It's up to you, though. So, if you don't have that mindset, that entrepreneur mindset to go out there and make it happen, you won't make money because again, this is commissions-based. You eat what you kill, right? So, again, this is something you need to get into and link into it right after this podcast, okay. Now, if even if it's not this, even if it's not financial services, learn how to go sell something with the shoes, shirts, clothes. I don't care if you can sell something, you can make money, or if you can just solve a problem, you can make money. Either one of those things, you make money, you put that money to buying a real estate property. Easy the best thing you can do outside of that, Airbnb arbitrage. You still need money for furniture, though. Remember that you can you can really do all this property management, all you want to, you still gonna need to buy some furniture. So just a couple three thousand to five thousand dollars, maybe will probably be plenty enough to start where you can furnish a small house, right? That's all you need. Outside of that, talk to owners if you want to get into the Airbnb space, talk to somebody who has an Airbnb, or maybe somebody who's trying to sell a property, right? Do an owner finance, which is what I do recommend. Owner finance is where the owners of the of the house become the bank. So you don't if you can't go get a loan like some people get because people got bad credit. I understand I was there, still kind of there, but you know, you can't get 200,000, $500,000 loans. I get it. Owner finance where the owner becomes the bank, and you just pay the owner what the mortgage would be, maybe a little bit more, and you use their property for Airbnb. Just sit down, have a conversation with them, let them know what you're trying to do, see what the do's and don'ts would be if it was to happen, and then you just make it happen. Just have a couple couple thousand, two, maybe five thousand dollars max, probably to start off. Arrange the place, you got it. And I hope I hope I answered that question.

SPEAKER_02 52:57

It's a lot of gems in here, man. I really hope people are just listening and tapping in, brother. But as you spoke to, you know, it always is gonna take money to make money with any with any industry, with the podcast, just with you know, I was telling people just my goals and even telling myself my goals. And I was just like, as I'm writing things down and as I'm trying to plan things out, it's like I have to make those investments. And whereas before, like I shied away from a lot of things because I just felt like it was too much, or maybe that's not where I'm at, or maybe I was even really trying to figure out the vision for the podcast itself. Well, now that I'm clear cut on it, now that I'm in the LLC space and now that I'm in the funding space and everything like that, I recognize that I'm not gonna get anywhere without paying. I'm not gonna get, and even when I, you know, because as you even move up and as you scale bigger and as you start to automate and delegate and and and be that runner service or be that task rabbit or be that finance person, you're still gonna have to spend money. You're still gonna have to, you know, but the money that you're spending, you're gonna be making that. And then some, you know, you want your money to be making money in a sense. And I'm in the point now where I just want it to be as passive as possible. And the more that I can just, you know, the more that I don't have to dish out, but the more that I know is that it's coming in, and I just keep everything the way that I have it, it'll it it'll always be a fluid system. So something that I think about with you and just everything that's kind of how everything has kind of come to fruition and how everything has propelled in itself is just like it's almost like a trickle effect. It's almost like one thing kind of started the next, and then one thing started the next, and then you ask questions or you sat down with certain people, and as you start to move, you'll even start to see that more things may happen. You know, you come to Florida, it could open your eyes to some total totally different, it's a totally different lifestyle. That's for sure that you'll you could be of service to so many people here, and even just thinking about my situation. So I always like to ask this question because I recognize that people are gonna now find you at a different point in their journey. You know, there are gonna be some people who tapped in live that are now gonna be like, okay, I'm keeping up with the journey at this point. There are gonna be some people that hear this episode when it airs and meet you where you are then. So for everybody, in a sense, and even for myself and even for you, without kind of spoiling anything, without disclosing anything that we don't need to disclose just yet, because maybe it hasn't made the forefront just yet. What's next? What are you kind of thinking of? Is there anything that you're looking to move into, experimenting with? Is there anything you're looking to date? Any new places? Y'all know we spoke about Florida a little bit. So any new places or spaces that we can expect to see DeAndre in as we continue to move forward.

SPEAKER_00 55:18

Hey man, he's good, y'all. I don't I don't think y'all understand. Yes, he asked great questions. Uh yeah, yeah. Uh, probably on the next episode that we do together, uh probably going to the non-profit organization. You know, that's my next venture. I don't want to like I say, I don't want to go too much into it just yet because it's too many, it's too many gyms, and it's gonna take so much time. But hey, hey, find find find a problem and solve it. Nonprofit organizations are a great way to start. So go over that.

SPEAKER_02 55:52

Sounds like we'll have a lot to talk about in that next discussion because that's also a space that I'm trying to move into. It's been something that I've been thinking about for a while. I have the idea, I have the plan. I've even revealed it a few times on the podcast episode. So if somebody was really smart, they would have started it. But I'm gonna I'm not gonna wait that nobody would do me like that and that y'all can't do it the way you can't do it. And maybe y'all forgot even what it is about. So if y'all have okay, don't start clicking back now on other episodes and trying to find things. It's okay, you don't know because I don't even know where I mentioned it, so it's all good. But maybe I do. But no, I uh DeAndre, as I said, bro, it it was really just a pleasure to be able to connect. It was really just you know to hear that, and I kind of just got a little upset because I mute myself so that sirens don't happen. Yeah, the sirens don't happen, but it's all good, you know. We're downtown, it's it's it's kind of but you know, I I really just as I said, I think about where we kind of were able to acquaint with one another and where we were at that time. And 2014 was a very long time ago, but you know, everything that's happened from then from being an essential worker as I was just the same to navigating through a pandemic to really coming on the other side of that pandemic and some places recovering a bit better than others, and some things, you know, some things kind of return to normalcy, but other things just becoming now a standard and just an accepted thing. It's amazing to see everything that you were doing and how you were able to capitalize. And while that capitalization may not have been the easiest thing to do, you stuck it out and you made it happen regardless. So, as I said, man, I commend that we support that, we love that, and we're excited, we're excited to even see what's to come because you know you're you're always thinking. I can I can just see it, I can just tell the insight and the conversation that we've had today, but even from how you've interacted with my other episodes, you're always kind of thinking and you're moving and grooving, but it really just goes to show that as you said, you've you've come, you've in a sense, you've found the core here, the principle. Really realize that at the end of the day, it's about recognizing that every problem has a solution. It's just have you found it yet? Or are you willing to find it, or are you willing to go put in the legwork to be able to combat that? So before we close out, before we tell people all the places they can tap in with you and find you and everything of the sort and follow along the journey, do you feel like there's anything that we haven't touched on today that you want to leave for the people, whether it be last words for business owners, entrepreneurs, people looking to just get into that creative space, people looking to just make some more money? And or do you feel like, you know, because I feel like there are going to be people, as I said, who are here now, who are tapping in, who are here in this episode, but there are also gonna be people who are coming along this may know nothing about either one of us and are finding it at a later date that may just need or may need to hear something. Because you know, I feel like with this, you gave people some gems and some tips and tricks and some things to consider, some things to look at from an arbitrage perspective. Some people may not even know how to spell arbitrage nor what it means. But after each episode, they're gonna be typing it into Google to figure out what's really happened or reaching out to you to really figure out, hey, what did you mean by that? Or hey, can I start? So you're telling me that these same people who I'm renting from and paying from, I could be having conversations with them and letting them know, hey, this is what I'm trying to do and where I'm trying to be at. People may even find themselves in Greenville or in Riley, wanting to seek your services. So, is there anything out there that you just want to leave for the people anybody tapping into this episode?

SPEAKER_00 58:53

Man, so much, so much you can say, right? So much you can say, but I I leave y'all with if y'all made it to this, if y'all made it to the end, hey, you this is this is probably one of the best parts, right here. If y'all made it to the end, and I I leave it with this quote that I like a whole lot for whatever reason, it just really stuck with me. I heard Jim Rohn say it first. I don't know if y'all know the motivation speaker, Jim Rohn, but he did bring it up. Uh, work harder on yourself than you do on your job. I'm gonna say one more time work harder on yourself than you do on your job. Because when you work hard on your job, you can definitely make a living, but when you work hard on yourself, you can make a fortune, and that's really the best way I can sum up so many words in just a small amount. So keep that in mind, everybody.

SPEAKER_02 59:44

I love that. Yeah, for those of y'all who don't know about Jim Rome, definitely just um, yeah, y'all need to get into that and tap into that and and and really just take that from a critical perspective. So I I love that, bro. As I said, I thank you for just everything that you've poured into my platform and just the fact that you wanted to be on the platform in general. I think that that just means a whole lot, and that's what it's for. So uh I'm happy, brother. Um I'm you know, I'm glad that we were able to connect. As I said, when you first scheduled this interview, and you told me that you wanted to kind of just make sure that you had things rocking and rolling. Well, I think you came with that, and then then some other. So I thank you, I appreciate you. But this is the last part, the best part, the call to action, the the part where I really, you know, it really goes to show one who was really listening, who was really tapping in, but who really wants to be serious, who really wants to make things happen and go from there. So for everybody tapping in, for everybody listening to this episode in some capacity, in some form or fashion, where can they find you from social media to websites to anything like that? What are the best places to reach you? Give us everything you got.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:44

Hey, well, the easiest place to find me is probably gonna be there. Facebook. I'm big on Facebook. Uh, I do a lot of my posts, reposting, a lot of reposting on Facebook, but I I'm still there, I'm very active on it. So we just search out my name, DeAndre Pierce. You should definitely see my face and a little nice professional photo up there with it uh for my Facebook page. Also, link to my Instagram is DeAndre uh underscore Pierce Official and Instagram again is DeAndre D-A-N-D-R-E underscore Pierce P-I-E-R-C official on Instagram. So those are two main places you can find me and just reach out to me with any questions you might have about Airbnb, arbitrage, the financial services. If you're looking for something part-time and just want to make some extra money, hey, I can definitely help you out with that too as well. But again, follow my boy Tamar. Okay, follow the down of business podcast. If you ain't hit that link, if you ain't hit the follow yet, if you hit the like button yet, you're doing yourself a disservice. You need more of this. He needs more of this, right? Because he needs to spread this more, he needs to talk to more influences, talk to more business owners because he's doing the this generation of favor right now, okay. So please support that. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:54

Well, I appreciate that, bro, for sure. And you know, I definitely do think that once our networks intermingle, intertwine, there's a lot to come. I don't I doubt this is our last conversation, but I think the first one was just a great benchmark, a great foundation, and a great trend to just be able to set to really just one, be able to motivate, but educate and really just um in a sense to call out and enlighten just to see who's really gonna, you know, take into because now I'm curious. Now I have some questions now because I knew about the arbitrage from just people who I spoke to, to just me also wanting to get into Airbnb myself. So we will definitely be in touch, my brother. I have no doubt about that. We have plenty more episodes coming, plenty more content to get out there, and you have plenty more things to do, just the same. So to everybody out there who continuously taps in, whether you joined us from DeAndre's side, from my side, whether you just were kind of on Facebook and you somehow came across this or in some capacity, however, you're here in this episode. I thank you. I love you, I appreciate you. This has been another episode of the Down to Business Podcast here with Tamar Turner.