35+ Years of Real Estate Wisdom in One Conversation

Success in real estate doesn’t happen overnight—it starts with risk, hustle, mentorship, and betting on yourself when nobody else will. In Episode 8 of Anything and Everything with Matt Reyna, Matt sits down with Martin Tidado and Mark Jones, two seasoned real estate professionals with nearly 30 years of combined experience, to talk about how they knew real estate was the path for them. From selling shoes and bartending to banking, mortgages, and taking life-changing risks, this episode is packed with real stories, lessons, and mindset shifts every entrepreneur needs to hear.

🎙️ In this episode:

• How Martin went from selling shoes and bartending to real estate full-time
 • The $10,000 check that changed everything
 • Mark’s transition from banking and finance into mortgage and real estate
 • Why mentorship matters in every profession
 • How family struggles and becoming a parent create motivation
 • Entrepreneurial mindset and where hustle really comes from
 • Family influence, generational work ethic, and building legacy
 • Taking risks when there’s no backup plan

🧠 What you'll learn:

• Why betting on yourself is often the biggest breakthrough
 • How successful people recognize opportunity early
 • Why hard times often create the strongest entrepreneurs
 • The role mentors play in long-term success
 • How to build confidence when making career-changing decisions
 • Why consistency and work ethic always win long term

⏱️ CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro
 00:23 Why This Episode Matters
 00:55 Martin’s Real Estate Origin Story
 01:58 The Wolf of Wall Street Moment
 02:45 Going All In on Real Estate
 03:20 Struggles, Newborns & Motivation
 04:21 Mark’s Journey from Banking to Mortgage
 05:45 Betting on Himself Full-Time
 06:22 Where the Entrepreneurial Spirit Came From
 06:45 Grandfather Influence & Family Legacy
 07:35 Lessons from Family in Mexico
 08:49 Family Roots & Identity
 09:22 Thoughts on Family History & Legacy

📢 About the Podcast

Anything and Everything with Matt Reyna is a podcast built around real conversations, real perspectives, and real lessons from business, life, sports, entrepreneurship, and everything in between. From real estate to personal growth, every episode is designed to bring value, perspective, and honest conversation.

📌 Connect With Matt Reyna

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattreyna2023/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matt.reyna.12
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mattreynaspodcast

#podcast #anythingandeverything #mattreyna #realestate #realtorlife #entrepreneur #motivation #businesspodcast #realestatepodcast #successmindset

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Guys, episode eight of anything and everything with Matt Reyna. Very, very special episode. We have Martin Tidado here. What's up? Also, we have Mark Jones here. Grayson us with the presents. Between them, we're talking about over 25 years of real estate. Easy. Right.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

We stack them on top of each other. No, I'm I'm 14. Yeah, between y'all two. Okay, yes. Yeah. Then you'd be damn near 30.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

30 years of real estate. 30 years of real estate, guys. Now I wanted for y'all to see this episode because these are guys that I bounce a lot of ideas off of, mentors of mine in real estate. I think everybody needs those in their uh in their lives, no matter what profession that you're in. So this is what I have access to on the daily basis. Y'all are gonna have a good time watching me pick their brains. So, guys, when did y'all know that real estate was like the calling for y'all? Like this is this this is what I'm gonna do from now on.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Get it. I I shoot up. So, you know, it's crazy. You know, when you're like entrepreneur, you're always showing up, you're trying to do little uh things, just kind of make a buck. So back back in the day, I was doing I was preparing tax returns, I was selling shoes, I was um a bartender, and then I was hustling real estate all at the same time. How old were you at that time? I was 21. Wow, I was 21, you know, wet behind the ears of everything. And um I had one of my mentors, I actually ran into him at the Spurs game the other day. Really? And he he told me he's he's all like, Hey, how much money are you gonna make selling those shoes? I'm like, man, I'll make like $30 profit. And I was all like, Yeah, but that's $30. That's like two hours worth of work, right? And he's like, Well, how much you making at the bar? I make like $20 an hour or so, give or take. And he's all check this out. He showed me a check for over $10,000. And then he's all like in one transaction. Well, one transaction. He's like, Yeah, this is just one transaction. And at that point, I was like, All right, I'm giving up shoes, I'm giving up, you know, bar check. I was already checked out. It was and then I got to the point where I was all like, all right, I'm gonna go all in.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

It was that uh that Donnie moment in Wolf of All Street.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Yeah, if you show me a paycheck right now for 15 grand, I quit my job the day and I worked with it in that movie at 70 grand in one month.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Yeah, I would have said the same thing, bro. So this this happened right before the movie actually came out.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Yeah, no, yeah, the Wolf of All Street, yeah. It was like 2000 uh like 2013. When did Wolf Wall Street come out? Is that how long you like Yeah, it's only been like 10 years that you've been in real estate? I've been in real estate for 13 years. So I think we've got to one more year than me.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Yeah, yeah. He's on the money. Wolf of Wall Street. You know what though? I remember when you were involved. You're on the money, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

I remember when you were um uh involved with the shoes still, yeah. You know, I remember I remember that. So I was like on the tail end of the shoe hustle and all of that.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Yeah, and and too, it was cool, and and it was like an everyday grind, but it was 30 bucks here, $40 here. Um, but yeah, when we started really making money in real estate, that's when I was all like, all right, I'm 100% in. That was it. And there was nothing else, like I dropped out of college and I got to the point where I was all like, all right, either sink or swim. I had a newborn, and it was in 2000, uh actually 2014 is when I 100% committed to uh to real estate. Wow. Um, the newborn aspect of it, how much did that light the fire on you? You know, it's crazy. I I got to the point where I was doing real estate, we had our newborn, everything was was good, right? But then there was like one month where we had deals that didn't close on time and ran. I mean, mortgage mortgage and formula was expensive. Like you like we got to the point where like we would go back to the west side and then we'll get formula from like some of the some of the moms that had babies too. And uh, and literally we were getting them for like you know that 50%. That's it, man. Two for one, right? Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Let me let me borrow that Wix card real quick.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

We did food stamps, everything, but you know, uh you you you learn a lot like in those in those times, and you know, it's just what we had to do.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

This one time me and my brother we got access to that uh two for one. Yeah, but they wanted the money up front and it was gonna re-up next month. And guess what? They burned us, they did the cash. It was like, damn, like, especially to knowing somebody who has something like that for you, like they're gonna be on the up and up. You know what I'm saying? So we got burned on that one. True, Mark, what's up with you?

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Uh mine's a little different, but also similar to Martin. Um, I had doing the hustling thing while working at the bank inside of Walmart. I was running poker games, I was um doing club promoting with John Vale. I was just hand in everything, um, but not all in one. And you were how old? Oh goodness. I was at that time maybe 20, 21, 22-ish. Uh, because I know at round 22 is when I left the bank, jumped over to Chase Bank, um, and it was like, okay, I'm making 60 grand a year. I really want to make more money. How do I do that? So had a good conversation with my mom, decided to go take all my real estate classes, got to the end and went, this isn't for me. Um, went to talk to my mom again. Uh, at the time she was in mortgage, but she was a processor. She'd already been a mortgage lender, she'd already been a realtor, um, was just kind of phasing to I'd want to be behind the scenes. Uh so at that time, she said, I told you up front you probably wanted to go mortgage. So I went and met with her boss at the time. Uh, two hours later, behind closed doors, I walked out and said, if I get license, he said he'll hire me. So two weeks later, uh, and at the time you had to take two tests to get license. This was 2012. Um, I got licensed in two weeks, showed back up and said I quit my job at uh Toyota of Bernie. I was the finance manager there. Wow. Uh, and said, I'm gonna take my shot on this. And he gave me a 3,000 a month guarantee for three months to get my feet wet. And after the first 45 days, I had already had my first deal under contract. It was just from leads that I was calling. Um, and I told him, Hey, can we take me off of that? Because I did the math, like, I'm gonna make more than three grand. He says, Well, if I take you off, then we gotta leave. Yeah, you can't go back. And I went, Well, let's let's take my chance.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Wow, yeah. Um, so you said that you got that kind of the first inclination of real estate from your mom, and you got it from the some somebody that you that you knew, but the entrepreneurial spirit had already been in y'all since day one. Where did y'all think that came from? Uh, you know, because both of y'all said that y'all had this hustle, that hustle, this going on, that going on. Where did that come from? So for me, I try and get into people's.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Yeah, no, no, no, that's a good question. For me, and I'll be quick. Um, it was my grandfather, honestly. Growing up uh younger, seeing my grandfather own a large contracting company. It was Texas Painting and Decorating. Uh, they did the uh San Antonio Library, they did that big water tower downtown, and then did one other job and went bankrupt from one job. Um and essentially he was just a shaker and mover. He was he was wheeler dealer, and I loved being with him all the time, going on all these different job sites. I think that's what did it because my dad was not entrepreneur, my mom uh jill of all trades, but not necessarily entrepreneur. She'll make you a cake, badass cake, but she'll give it to you for free. And it's like, come on, mom, you know, I know what you mean. So, yeah, definitely came from my grandfather. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

Yeah, so it it I think it just we inherited it, right? So back in the day when we used to go visit my grandpa, like or my family in Mexico. Um, my grandpa used to walk uh, I want to say two to three miles to and from, right? In order to go sell a couple of pairs of shoes at like the local like swap meet. And that's just what he did. But every single day before we even woke up when we went to go visit, he was gone. He'll show up back around three or four, and then he'll still take like this is him in his 60s, 70s, right? And just us seeing as like, hey, no matter how hard life gets, like you gotta go out there and you gotta put in the work. So, like, even if like you're down in the dumps, like they still did that. So it was always funny. So, like when we were selling shoes, like we went back and we like reminisce, like dang, our grandpa used to sell shoes like to provide, and it was you know, not very much, you know, it was just the the atmosphere of where it was in Mexico. Um, so it was he wasn't really making so much, but then my grandma also she had a fruit stand there at her house. So, like over there in Mexico in Morelia, they actually had it where you can actually go have a storefront at your house, and then you know, she that she would just sell into the community. That's all that's all it was.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

So, like you're Mexican? I was about yeah, I've never known that about I always thought Toretto was like Italian.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

No, it's no, I was I was gonna say, so are you first generation? I always get mixed up with that.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

So first generation from my dad's side, second generation from my well, no, actually, third, fourth, fourth generation. So my grandma, uh well, from my mom's side, shoot, I I don't even know where that family tree started, but in my dad's side, it just started in Mexico. Do y'all care to know that or not really? We we we got the 23 and me, but we have we didn't turn it in yet.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

I've never submitted to those things because I know that that's how they're going to use that database. Um, but that's a that's a good point. For me, uh, not really. I don't have a ton of uh family that I don't know. Sure. Um, but that side is from my dad's side. He was he doesn't even know who his real dad is, so it we never really looked or cared to. Um it just is what it is. Yeah, yeah. It just a good question, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Um, well, I think after a while you're just like, I don't care. This person is my yeah, father, uncle, whatever. That's just the way that it is, yeah.