Speaker 1: 0:31

So tell me a little bit about yourself. Tell me your name. What business do you work for? Are you freelance? You do video photography.

Speaker 2: 0:38

Yeah well, first of all, thank you for having me. I appreciate being here, having the opportunity to talk with your listeners and just kind of get to know you and having a conversation, so I appreciate that very much. I run Mitchell Goldstein Media. My name is Mitchell Goldstein. I'm a serial entrepreneur. I don't have college degrees, college credits. It was something that as a young man, I've kind of evolved as a business owner, as somebody who is an entrepreneur, just kind of like trial and error, just failing my way forward. That's the way to do it. I continue to do it every day.

Speaker 1: 1:08

I love that. So you're self-made, self-taught. Can you tell us some resources for videography photography Sure? I?

Speaker 2: 1:14

wouldn't say I'm self-made, I'm a believer, so I give all the glory and credit to God. But I have always loved film and I get that question a lot. I film a ton of weddings, I work with a lot of realtors, constantly behind the camera doing a lot of stuff, and I get asked when did you know? You loved film? And for me I always point back to when I was a teenager. There was a hurricane and I was like 12 years old 13 years old and we used to have home videos where we would record cameras that were recorded on eight-track tapes. So camcorder Exactly Sony Cybershot, I think it was, or a Sony camera. Those are coming back, by the way. I would love to see that footage come back. The format's a little different.

Speaker 2: 1:53

Yes, the ratios and everything. But I love the look for some of those vintage cameras. Vintage now Correct, but I had to convince my mom I want to go outside and report on the hurricane, so I grabbed the camera.

Speaker 2: 2:05

I put a grocery bag around it, I put a rubber band to hold it on and I remember being outside the winds are picking up and kind of reporting it, like as if I was behind the camera but reporting it. And whenever somebody asked me I'm like that's the first time I remember really trying to convince someone I needed to film. So it's.

Speaker 1: 2:24

That's a great story.

Speaker 2: 2:25

Yeah, I mean it was passionate. It was fun back then. And then, as I progressed, getting older, I've been around music. I knew a lot of musicians, people who were doing self-promotion before this like massive wave of so many people doing it and being a part of teams with other musicians. There was always like I had all these demands, I had this vision and I felt like I was asking so much of these videographers, of these content creators, and I'm like why don't I go get myself a camera? Why don't I go get the tool and try and figure it out along the way? So for now, like six plus years, I've been adding to my camera equipment, slow and steady, but I noticed that I felt like such a demanding client. I said why don't I try and take the pressure off of somebody else and figure it out myself? So it's led me here.

Speaker 1: 3:16

That's amazing. I also saw that you helped businesses, too, with their content creation, putting it out there. Tell me a little bit about that. How did you get into that route of videography photography?

Speaker 2: 3:28

Yeah, for businesses. Specifically, I bought a drone in October 2017. And I went on a two month road trip around the entire country Wow, and I said, if I'm going to spend $2,000 on this drone, I have to figure out how to generate an income with it. I'm not going to buy a $2,000 toy that's going to sit in the closet. So I went on the trip. I fell in love with it. That's really my passion. I love film, I love creating and capturing the moment and reliving it afterwards. But the drone was really a catalyst where I was like, ok, if I'm going to spend this $2,000, how can I make money with it? And the two things.

Speaker 2: 4:03

I'm also a realtor. I've been a realtor for about 10 years now. I saw that, yeah, I knew realtors were spending money on marketing and I knew that people spent money on weddings. So I said, all right, I'm going to buy this because I love landscape, I love traveling, I love you know that's my passion. But when I get home, I have to figure out how to make money with it. So I'm going to get into real estate marketing. I'm going to get into wedding videography and through that I knew I liked photography also, but I wasn't super confident. A photographer at a wedding has an incredibly important job. They need to make sure the person feels good about themselves. They put them in the right lighting, they put them in the right location, they edit it properly, not missing the shot.

Speaker 2: 4:42

They do it in time Exactly. There's only one first kiss. You're not going to redo the first kiss.

Speaker 1: 4:47

Put a pressure for that, though.

Speaker 2: 4:48

Exactly so I decided I'm going to get in a video when my picture is constant, and then I'm going to learn from these photographers along the way. So every time I'm doing a job, I'm at a wedding While I'm serving that client and really trying to give them a family heirloom. That's my goal. I want to deliver family heirlooms that you look back and love it. But while I'm there, I'm also a student and I'm supposed to be learning. So these photographers have been blessed to work alongside. I've taught me so much along the way. To now I'm offering photography as well. I'm doing my second photography in March. I've done countless wedding videography projects, but now I'm expanding into photography as well, feeling like I've learned so much from these titans in the industry that it's something I want to offer as well. So I'm excited about it, I'm optimistic about it, but it's a little nerve-wracking also.

Speaker 1: 5:35

I can imagine. But I mean, you've got the good personality for it. You are a self-starter and you push yourself. Like you just said, you don't want to buy a $2,000 toy and just have it sit. You made a goal, you went around the country. That's big in itself. A lot of people say they want to do it and then they don't do it. So you pushing yourself to do that is amazing. And you also have a podcast too. Hello. That's amazing, tell us the name of it and what it's about.

Speaker 2: 5:59

Well, thank you, I appreciate it. A shameless plug it's called Questions Over Coffee. So I've been blessed along the way to just meet so many incredible people and hear so many incredible stories. Like. I've had experiences where I'm like why don't we have the camera? Like, why are you not mic'd up? Like we need to share this with others. There's so much value. I think that's the most important thing. I want to provide value in anything I do. So I've had these great experiences to meet these people and I'm like what you're saying, the message you're delivering, is such value to me. I think others can take that value as well.

Speaker 2: 6:31

So I created a podcast. We're 10 episodes in and it's new, it's fresh, it doesn't pay, we don't have sponsorships yet, we're not monetizing yet. That's all the goal, correct. But right now we're having fun and we're providing value. So, questions Over Coffee. We do a video version as well. It's on YouTube, it's on all the places you can stream your podcasts. But it was something I just wanted to do for fun and provide value to the listeners, because there's so much chatter out in the world. There's so many people giving advice Some of it great, some of it not so great and I thought I felt a call or a responsibility to provide good content. It's people who may have some war stories, it's people who may be been through some things, but the common denominator is we're trying to provide light, trying to make the world a better place, trying to give some insight, some hope, all that good stuff. So that's what really birthed that project.

Speaker 1: 7:23

I love that, and what advice would you give to somebody as a business owner or somebody who's trying to start their own business whether it's freelance or working making their own business in general as a videographer, a photographer what kind of advice can you give them on where to start?

Speaker 2: 7:41

I think there's a ton, and I think it applies beyond just photo video business in general Take more risks and fail faster. I have climbed because of my failures. Winds are great and winds are great to look back on, but the losses are where you learn. So in that I would say take the risk, and this is a message to myself here. I am now in my mid-30s and I've kind of gotten comfortable in some things. You know all the equipment's paid for, so you know to take on your debt and to take new risks and to buy new things is. It's alarming at times, but the reminder is if you believe in yourself and you believe in the product or the service you're providing, take more risks, take bigger risks, be willing to fail and fail faster.

Speaker 2: 8:26

I think some advice from some entrepreneurs along the way was that success leaves clues. So if you're unsure, there's a model out there. Unless you're creating an entirely new industry, there's somebody who has paved the way or lit the trail. So be it. And if you're really interested in scaling, learn from those who have already done it and take the clues that they're leaving behind.

Speaker 1: 8:50

Absolutely. I love that, Appreciate it. And then, as far as for your own business, what are some of the challenges that you feel that you've gone through that I know you were like yes, there's a million. Yes, is there one that sticks out to you the most, that you're like, wow, like I'll never forget this.

Speaker 2: 9:07

Oh, I think it's something I'm still going through and it's the ability to trust others, because if you wanna go fast, go alone. If you wanna go far, go together. My goal is to go far, and with that you need others, you need a team, you need people who are better at certain things than you are where you need help. So one lesson I'm learning right now that's been tough is to trust. When you own a business, it's your baby. My media company's my name, mitchell Goldstein Media, so my reputation's always on the line. Oh my gosh, yeah. So to trust somebody like, for instance I'll break it down and give you an example with weddings, please do Whether it's filming the wedding or whether it's editing the content.

Speaker 2: 9:49

That's someone's biggest day of their life. Like you said, we get one first kiss. So to trust somebody to provide the service that I provide the day of, we're there to amplify their day, to make their day better, to uplift them, to make them feel good about themselves. So that means you're on and you have a job to do besides just running the camera and making sure the settings are correct and making sure you're in focus. You're also a person there that's supposed to make their day better. So for somebody to understand that and to really get that, I've had countless people I've hired for the actual labor and people will cancel on you two, three days before a wedding and they don't understand. And people go through their own things and emergencies happen and all of that. But you can't miss the wedding. And with the editing process as well, it's.

Speaker 2: 10:44

I have a taste, I have a goal of the product I'm trying to deliver and it's constantly getting better. But if somebody doesn't see that I've noticed again with getting into this I seemed like a demanding client, I had a vision and I had revision requests or hey, can we do this at this time? And I noticed some of the reception I got was that it was over asking or that it was demanding. So now that I'm on the other end, getting those revisions, I see the importance of my job. Where other people might not see it like that. There's plenty of people out there that could do it.

Speaker 2: 11:21

But one thing I'm struggling with is trusting, finding those people, taking those risks I was just talking about where, yeah, okay, maybe you need to hire somebody and maybe you need to leverage yourself. But with that comes challenges and mistakes along the way, and I guess I'm afraid of making those mistakes because of how much I understand the value in it. If we need to reshoot a podcast, I feel terrible, but it can be done. We can't reshoot a wedding. So that's one of those things I'm learning right now is finding the right people, trusting them to do their job and also trusting God as a believer. Like I told you, if you are gonna scale and grow, one thing I know I need to do is leverage right now.

Speaker 1: 12:01

Yeah, absolutely. And then for your work. I know there's like a particular type of work ethic that you want to put out there. What is your style Like? Do you have a particular style with the type of work you do? Is it moody, Is it light or is?

Speaker 2: 12:16

it a mixture.

Speaker 1: 12:18

What do you?

Speaker 2: 12:19

I like moody, so when I go on a road trip and take my drone, it's moody. My ISO is low. For camera people, the exposure, the amount of light you're letting into the camera, is low, but for weddings it's the complete opposite, yes, so you gotta really know your client and you gotta know your project, and I'm continuously getting better at all of it. I would say my style adapts based on the project.

Speaker 1: 12:46

Okay, that's fair, but like on your own time, like what you like. You said it's dark and moody.

Speaker 2: 12:50

I like moody yeah, I do.

Speaker 1: 12:52

What about it? Do you like the cinematicness?

Speaker 2: 12:56

of it. You know that's a great question. I think the cinematic aspect is a huge part of it. Also, like art can make you feel Absolutely so music or movies, they invoke emotion and I resonate with like the like underdog story. They're like, how I said, fail forward the trial and error and I guess throughout growing up I was kind of inspired by that stuff. I can resonate with the like we're at rock bottom Now how are we gonna get up? And in rock bottom, that's moody, you know.

Speaker 1: 13:31

The scenes, the spots. You can say that again.

Speaker 2: 13:34

So when I feel that and I'm able to now reach the peak through it, where it is light, it is bright, I think I enjoy that, because I also have fallen in love with the journey where it would be great to just have the bright exposed and fireworks and all of that. But I've gotten to the point where I appreciate the journey, I appreciate the journey. So for that it's inspiring to me where the victory is now like, okay, we're gonna celebrate and I love celebrating. But I also think what resonates with me is inspiration and for some reason, moody down on your luck, rock bottom, inspires me. So I think that is my go-to. But I also enjoy the celebrations and the bright as well.

Speaker 1: 14:30

Awesome. And then, what is your history with music, like, how did you get your foot in there? And, like you said, you've worked with like some artists or bands? Tell me more about that.

Speaker 2: 14:39

Cool, all right. So 2015,. I started a performing arts company called Inspire to Be More, where the goal was we're gonna go into public schools, we're gonna put on an assembly and we're gonna put together this incredible roster of team. We got singers, dancers, musicians, actors, camera people. All these people are coming together, just like my podcast, like I was told you, we're all talented and skilled at what we do, but the goal is to make the world a better place, provide light. So we were gonna go into these public schools and we were gonna inspire these kids. No matter what you do, do it with excellence, do it with purpose, tap into your passions, but how can you make the world a better place through it? I think this world needs light so badly. I think it needs positive. There's a spiritual warfare going on here between light and dark, between good and bad, between all that stuff, and if we feel called to light, it's our job to provide that. So, inspire to Be More.

Speaker 2: 15:35

I looked around. I said who are these people that I know, who's great at what they do, who has a passion, but who's also trying to build and make good in the world, and I put them all together. I said we're gonna go around and we're gonna do public school assemblies. And we started in Montgomery County and, like Chevy Chase, and the reception was great. And then I shortly thereafter realized, okay, this is gonna be tough. Public schools don't have a budget, or, you know, it's hard to get into that budget. Maybe some people got into it and they can provide some tips and tricks, but it was hard to get a budget to pay these 10 to 12 people. Hey, look, I'm asking you to come out on a Tuesday afternoon when I know you work a full-time job. I need to provide some money to them so they can pay their bills. And there were some challenges along the way.

Speaker 2: 16:19

And I also think we evolve as we go. You know. So where that was the impact I was hoping it would make. It has slowly evolved now to where I thought it had to be. A certain way we gotta go to the school, we gotta talk to these kids.

Speaker 2: 16:31

You can reach these kids on TikTok, on Instagram, wherever you are now, you know, and sometimes they're more prone to listening in their own time, in their own space, on their phone. That's where you can catch them. So speaking their language and meeting them where they're at is still possible. But that's really what started the music. I was dating a musician at the time and she was incredible at what she did and I saw that there was impact that could be made through that. You know, music is a great media that I think people can really tap into. So that was kinda the catalyst for that. And then meeting these other musicians along the way, it's like I just wanna see great people win. And if I see somebody that I think is like man, like why isn't your message reaching more people? Like? One thing for me is significance. I wanna do things of significance and I'm very futuristic mindset, so I propel forward as a visionary and I want it to be significant and I think music is a great way to do that.

Speaker 1: 17:27

Absolutely, and it transcends to many generations. You can hear it just through so many media as it can make you feel so many different ways depending on the music that you're listening to, 100%. But I feel that and do you have any history with music, like, do you play any instruments?

Speaker 2: 17:43

I write, I'm a songwriter, but I don't put the music out. So again, the moody aspect of it, I listen to hip hop music.

Speaker 2: 17:50

I listen to rap music. I was gonna ask you what music do you listen to? And I'm a? Well, I listen to classic rock. I listen to country now I listen to so much but the moody resonates with hip hop and rap. There's a musician his name's NF, or his music name is his name's Nate. He lives in Nashville now, but his music is about his rock bottom, his trials, his heirs. It's an expression.

Speaker 2: 18:13

So I do that as an art outlet, but I don't promote it. I've gone through studios and recorded and made a music video and edited it and there's two that I have shared over the years, but it's not something where I'm like I want to be a musician.

Speaker 1: 18:29

That's it and that's all. Was it just like I want to get this out? This is an expression. It was for me, yeah.

Speaker 2: 18:34

It was for me, but I had enough people tell me that could be for somebody else. Like somebody could get something from that.

Speaker 1: 18:41

So you could cut it to somebody I don't know what's that. You could cut it, give it to somebody at that song.

Speaker 2: 18:46

Yeah, yeah and I wonder if down the long play, am I a song like a ghostwriter? Am I a songwriter? Because the music is articulate, it's got a lot in it where, honestly, it's for the person who listens to the same song 20, 25 times that's me and then they hear something new on the 26th time and they're like, wow, this is deep, it's not the catchy hook, it's not what they're going to be playing at the festival.

Speaker 1: 19:14

On the radio top 20.

Speaker 2: 19:15

The DJ is not going to be blasting it, but I think it can meet some people where they're at and hopefully again provide that inspiration, that value of like the messages, like keep going, don't give up. I love that and believe in yourself.

Speaker 1: 19:28

You have such a positive outlook? Is that from like your parents? Did you read books Like how did you get this way? All of the above, All of the above.

Speaker 2: 19:35

All of the above. I'm super blessed with a great family, two awesome parents, both successful entrepreneurs in their own respects. Neither one took their SATs. I didn't go to college. I have zero college credits. I didn't take my SATs. I was actually dropped out of high school for a couple of months. Now I've gone back and I run multiple businesses. I'm an entrepreneur and my parents instilled in me the energy for life. My mom was the one that's like what do you love? Like how are you going to tap and make the world a better place? My dad is the guy that's like you get up that first time the alarm clock goes off at 6am and you're at work by 630 and you make a paycheck so you can do what you want in life. And my mom's like well, how do we take that work ethic? How do we take that and put it into a passion, a job that you think you're called to, and combine that? And here I am just shooting in the dark, shooting in the dark, trying to figure it out.

Speaker 1: 20:28

But no, that's amazing that they set you up in that way. Like a lot of people don't have that other kind of loss and they're like I don't know. And I feel like that's so important too for parents to be there for their kids in that way that they were for you and tell you like hey, you got to be at your job at 630. So when you hear that alarm, you got to get up, like that's so important. I feel like sometimes that's missed and a lot of people maybe don't, maybe they don't even realize that they don't have that type of mindset. But it's nice that you were blessed with good parents like that.

Speaker 2: 20:59

Growing up I thought it was a difficulty. It was like added pressure, it was more expectations, it was things didn't make sense, where it's like some kids are getting away with bad grades, no extracurriculars, and here it felt like a lot of pressure on me and now I'm so grateful for it because I juggle so much and it doesn't feel like a whole lot. But there's also the side you mentioned like is it books? Is your parents yes to that as well? There's some entrepreneur books. There's a couple of people not just books, but people, and they put out podcasts now, or they put out videos, or they put out, they offer a book or they do all these different things, and there's been so much of that along the way, so I'll drop a couple real quick.

Speaker 2: 21:46

I got a name Darren Hardy, a book called the Compound Effect, and it talks about there's like a Chinese approach to something called the Kaizen approach, where it's like each day takes such small steps that it doesn't feel like progress, that you barely notice it, but every day has to be just that much further than the last. So the compound effect is if you take a penny and you double it and then you double that penny and then you double that, before you know it you're up to like 20 million. You know in dollars that you started just compounding pennies. So it's kind of like that mindset in life. You know, there's a quote I was gonna look it up before I came here, but I forgot.

Speaker 2: 22:26

But it's like water boils, I think. Like 212 degrees, like at 211 degrees, water's just hot At 212, it boils and that creates steam, and steam can power a locomotive, so that one extra degree can fuel the whole thing. And that's what I kind of focus on, because I'm also somebody who I feel like, while I was blessed with great parents who said here's how you do it with hard work, I don't feel as lucky in the open doors, where it's like, you know, sometimes I feel like I'm beating on doors that are closed and it's like okay, well, maybe that's just not the door for me. But the books and the quotes made me realize like you got to be relentless, because you may look and you may compare, and comparison is the death of all inspiration. But we're guilty.

Speaker 2: 23:13

I'm guilty of doing it at times. And these people, these books, these quotes, remind me that it's up to me to work harder. I think if there's one thing I could pass on to someone or try and encourage them with, besides not giving up, is grit. Work harder, you know, keep failing, like I said. So Darren Hardy the entrepreneur roller coaster and the compound effect are two great books. And then Tony Robbins. If you know who he is, anthony Robbins.

Speaker 1: 23:42

I don't, but Aliyah does. She's always like Tony.

Speaker 2: 23:44

Robbins. Tony Robbins is great, so I think that is that, coupled with taking care of yourself physically, you know. So I think, having a great role model, having great people to continue to inspire you, realizing it's up to you to make it happen, and taking care of your vessel, I think that's where I get a lot of my energy as well, because when I'm not absolutely drinking water, exercising the sauna, cold plunge, I think putting your body in tough situations.

Speaker 2: 24:17

Is cold plunge like showering in the cold, yeah, but I so. I'm addicted, you know, oh my gosh what have a like a freezer that one person would put in their garage to store like meats and frozen foods. I took all the shelves out of it.

Speaker 2: 24:32

I painted the inside of it. You know it's like a. It looks like tin flooring inside. I took Flexio, which is like a waterproof paint, painted the inside, filled it up with water, and I sit in it for a minimum of three minutes a day.

Speaker 2: 24:42

What it does for your body, for your liver, and like there's so many benefits of metabolism, all that. But aside from that energy it gives you. I think energy is so important. I think, especially if you're in the service industry and if you're in sales and if you're trying to convince someone to hire you hey, I know it's the biggest day of your life, I know it's your wedding you should hire me. I gotta have energy. You know, energy is like the one currency we can bring that we don't have to pay for, you know, but we got to earn. So I think energy is just monumental. You need it because we have a duty to offset the negative. The negative is so strong, it's so loud, it's so powerful, it's moving with such force. So us who want to counteract that it's going to take a lot of effort.

Speaker 2: 25:30

It almost feels like you can't beat it at times you know, but if we are to, if we are going to make a positive difference, got to bring that energy For sure.

Speaker 1: 25:39

And I feel like it affects the people around you too. You kind of want to be like a positive impact, so it rubs off on other people too.

Speaker 2: 25:46

Sure. Because if you're always down, I feel like that might you know Same thing with the performing arts company Inspire to be more? Yes, I want to inspire, if you're going to inspire. I'm only inspired by life. I'm not inspired by stagnant. You know, mold doesn't inspire me.

Speaker 1: 26:01

No.

Speaker 2: 26:02

The pond doesn't inspire me, but a rushing river, oh yeah, metaphorically speaking, you know and I'm an Aquarius I love water. I can sit by the water and just listen to a river run, but it's got power behind it, it's got energy behind it. So I think life you need that. You know and trust me, I'm somebody who loves to get home at the end of the night, relax, kick my feet up. I think there's value in that. Also, rest is huge, but light and energy and passion and all that is what inspires me. So I know I got to bring that to Inspire, hopefully, somebody else.

Speaker 1: 26:34

Well, yeah, you've got that good energy. Like right when we saw you were like peace sign.

Speaker 2: 26:37

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:38

And. I was like okay, what a nice person that happened.

Speaker 2: 26:40

Yeah, I've been so blessed with so many good experiences, mission trips or working with you know, socially responsible for-profit companies or working for 501c non-profits. I've gone from different continents and different places serving others and like. One thing I know is that when I'm having fun, when I feel most alive, energy's up. So if and where I can, I'm going to bring it Okay.

Speaker 1: 27:09

And then tell me a little bit more. Going back to the real estate, how did you get into that? How did you put that into the mix of the other things that you're doing? It's an interesting story.

Speaker 2: 27:18

So I'm a serial entrepreneur. I've been a legitimate entrepreneur since sixth grade. Live strong bracelets, if you remember what those were I do.

Speaker 1: 27:26

Lance Armstrong was wearing them a lot.

Speaker 2: 27:27

I'd buy them for a buck. I went to school and a kid paid me $6 for one.

Speaker 1: 27:31

And I was like really, Six, x, you know.

Speaker 2: 27:34

So my wheels started spinning Next thing. You know I'm taking sodas to school, all kinds of stuff, and it's evolved over the years. And when I got into my young 20s I was working out a golf course, you know, cleaning golf clubs and trying to make tips with the members and all that. And this kid, he was like 15 years old. I don't even know where he is now. It's like in California. He went to Berkeley Really smart kid, really smart kid. But he was still in high school at the time. He was like 22, swinging and missing, trying to figure out.

Speaker 2: 28:02

I'm running a pressure washing and staining company. I'm pressure washing in snow pants, like working out a golf course, like obviously not reaching my full potential, like obviously there's more here. And he just you should try real estate. I'm like what do you mean? He's like he's like you'd be incredible at it. I'm like I went home that night and I signed up.

Speaker 2: 28:21

I did the real estate two week class. I took off, I went in person eight hours a day, passed the test and then I sent an email. If you're in real estate, I'm from Maryland, but even Virginia people. I'm sure if you're in real estate, you've heard of this guy named Bob Lucito. He's huge and if you look him up if you don't know him, you look him up you'll be like, wow, okay, that really is the guy. So I sent an email Like, hey, I'm getting my real estate license. I just want to work for the best. You're the best, can I work for you? And I've been with him now for 10 years.

Speaker 2: 28:49

We went from Remax to Keller Williams. There's no question I'm following you. And he was the one that instilled. Success leaves clues fail faster. Some of these quotes I go to I kind of fell into it and I knew I wanted to be involved in real estate. Warren Buffett, a famous investor, has a quote. Says not everyone makes their first million in real estate, but most make their second. He may say all make their second, but I try not to be so extreme. In my mind, I'm like most make their second. Especially nowadays, people are making two million in Bitcoin overnight.

Speaker 2: 29:18

And see, a couple years ago, but, nonetheless, real estate is like the number one appreciating asset and as an entrepreneur, as a business person, appreciating assets are so important. Plus there's tax benefits, plus you could put renters in there, like there's cash flow opportunity. There's so much in real estate where I wanted to get my foot in the door. At a 22 years old I didn't even have a bank account, I had a terrible credit score, I had some medical bills, I was uninsured, like there was a lot going against me.

Speaker 2: 29:47

But I realized when I got my foot in a real estate the things I could learn, even if we're in a different business. You know, even from running a media company, even if you're running a photography studio, you can use an aside office to run a podcast, you know. So there was like all this opportunity where if you knew zoning and you knew real estate and you could look at the properties, like I'm my favorite client, I love showing myself real estate. I love homes, I love the uniqueness from architects and builders and designers. So I knew I liked it a lot. I knew there was opportunity to make money in it. So I dove in at first and I'm still 10 years later but I don't market it. I've like pivoted throughout the year. I've been in all these different businesses. To be completely transparent with you, I don't like the industry.

Speaker 1: 30:30

Hey, that's fair.

Speaker 2: 30:31

I don't.

Speaker 1: 30:31

Honesty is honesty.

Speaker 2: 30:32

Yeah, I don't like what goes into making some deals happen. I'm an ethical person. I believe in doing the right thing and not to say other realtors are doing the wrong thing. I've experienced throughout that where I felt like the level of care that was given changed to a numbers game where we gotta get this transaction to close and that loses the service for me. Then it becomes a sales game. Then it becomes a business where I like providing value, I like helping people.

Speaker 2: 31:07

So when I could do that in real estate, if I got you a home that you know it appraises for 50,000 more than you paid for it, I feel like a rock star. But if, towards the end of the deal, your interest rate is going up because of your debt to income ratio and now you're feeling panicked, you're not feeling safe and you've put all this money into the deal, I've seen people push them into something that may not be right for them because of either how far along they were or because they wanted to get the deal to close, or they wanted the commission. So I experienced some things where it didn't feel like full time for me.

Speaker 1: 31:42

I couldn't sleep if that was me. There were some hard ones.

Speaker 2: 31:46

When you crush it, when people are raving about you, when referrals are flying, it feels great. But when you walk away from the table and you feel like it wasn't right, in whatever sense of the word, I carry that with me, I take that with me. That weighs on me. So because of that I realized that where else could I be providing more value? You know, what could I be doing? Is there something I could be doing where I could deliver a better final product? And I still do real estate. I do like one, two, three deals a year. I help friends and family. They know to come to me. I love those opportunities, but I don't go after cold leads. I'm not knocking on expires. I'm not trying to convince somebody with a withdrawn listing to relist. It's something where I love having my foot in. I love being a part of it, but I think there's a lot that could be improved in the industry also. But competition is important to me. I love friend the competition and I feel, like with video, much more competitive as far as what I provide, what fires me up, what keeps me going and inspired.

Speaker 2: 33:02

Real estate for me seemed transactional and if I can give any advice to an entrepreneur if you don't love it. I mean Steve Jobs said he's like you gotta be crazy. You have to love it so much. People think you're crazy because otherwise you're gonna get burnt out. This is hard. You guys know it. You know Running a podcast, doing a photography studio anything you do is gonna be really hard. So if you wanna be the best real estate I mean there's like hundreds of thousands of real estate in the United States alone so if you wanna be the best at it, like it's very competitive. So for me I was willing to pivot and I still am, and if that's some advice I can maybe shed to somebody else. It's like, if you don't love it, if you're not crazy about it, pivot If there's value in it. If you wanna keep your license and keep your finger on the pulse, that's cool. But if it's not, your forever thing, find what is, and I'm just like rapidly trying new stuff all the time Awesome.

Speaker 1: 34:01

I was gonna say, like if you had one message that you could give to the world, would that be it, or do you have another?

Speaker 2: 34:07

Believe in yourself. You know not to sound too cliche but you have to have an unrelenting belief in yourself.

Speaker 2: 34:17

Even when you're failing, even when you fall flat on your face, it's like no, I'm a champion, I'm a winner. Even in my losses, I tell myself like I am a champion. So there's one thing I would tell someone, especially the person in the moody scene of their life right now and the person that's down, it's that this is what's going to fuel the wins. So just keep going, believe in yourself, have an undying passion for what it is you do. So love what you do and try and work the hardest that you can on it. That would be my pieces of advice.

Speaker 1: 34:52

Well, thank you so much. You've provided so many great insights, so many great resources for our listeners to tap into. So thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 35:01

No, but thank you guys, I love what you're doing. I was listening to some podcasts the past couple of weeks, listening to some writing down here, and I, like I said, I've been an entrepreneur since I was in sixth grade Like, I resonate with the entrepreneur, the person that takes the risk that is doing it. So there was some great stories writing down here, with a lot of similar stuff, of just fundamental aspects of how to be rooted, and it's been really an amazing opportunity just to sit here with you guys.

Speaker 1: 35:29

So thank you. Thank you for your time too.

Speaker 2: 35:31

Anytime, anytime.