So when he threw out a number, he's like, yeah, 7. 62. Okay, great. And we were ready to pay 8 million for it. So like, that's perfect. Like we won't even negotiate. And so we started reaching out to raise capital and do a syndication and some other local apartment buyers were like, Hey, can we actually buy it from you? Like right now, you guys don't have to do anything. You just walk away from it. We'll buy it. You guys double close. We'll take it. They wanted it at 10 and a half million. welcome back to the Art of Connecting podcast. This is your host here, Haydynn Fike, back with another episode for you guys. And today I am happy to have my business partner, friend, and also sometimes hotel stay when I'm in Knoxville, Tennessee. Dan, the hard money man. Man. Thanks so much for having me on. Been a long time coming and trying to be important enough to get on your podcast for the better part of like two years now. So we, I feel like we both were like, you would be like, Hey, and I need to come on the podcast Dan, I need to have you on the podcast. And it just like, we never actually put it on the schedule. So I got desperate enough now to where I was like, all right, we've got to put you on the schedule. And yeah, desperation makes you do crazy things. You can say that again. So if you don't mind, Dan, if you go ahead and just introduce yourself to the audience and the people that may not know you yet. Yeah, sure. So my name is Dan Bollew. Some people know me as Dan the hard money man live here in Knoxville, Tennessee. Been here a couple of years bounced around the country quite a bit. I've been a full time real estate investor slash entrepreneur for the better part of. Eight years before that I was a ship captain, dynamic positioning operator, navigation officer on ships kind of followed in like Robert Kiyosaki's footsteps, going to a, you know, maritime academy and then coming out with a third mate's license, doing that for a few years. while reading business books and kind of just planning my exit. Right. So that was 2016. Oil and gas, like just totally, you know, went down to like 30 bucks a barrel. We lost their contract and hundreds and hundreds of people got laid off. Along with myself. And so I was like, man, I'm really getting thrown into the fire. I wasn't quite ready to make the leap, but I just, I freaking did it, man. Cause they made me do it, you know, and here we are never looked back. So I had the pleasure of having you on the action academy to come and talk to some of the members and the mastermind. And I love your story. And like, it's funny because we've been in business together. Almost two years now, which is freaking nuts to think about. But you know, we've been connected and doing stuff together for like two years now. And I never even knew a lot of this stuff about like your background in oil and gas and like all the things that you were like, literally like working on buying houses while you're on a oil rig and like out in the middle of the ocean. So that was really cool to learn. Yeah, man. It's a, it's a little nutty. Like no one really knows anything about that unless I bring it up. So everyone's kind of like, Whoa, you used to be a ship captain. Like that's insane. Most people do that for their entire lives, right? Because it's such a specialized skill. You have to work your way up, you know, and get all sorts of very specialized licenses. It's like being a doctor, right? I mean, I'm not going to compare myself to a doctor, but you have a lot of very specialized licensing and it's really hard to walk away from that once you get into it. And it's relatively highly paid, right? Like you make, you make a lot of money. Yeah. I mean, you know, when I left, you know, I was in my late twenties making, you know, almost 200 grand a year. So like. It's hard to walk away from that, you know, into something that you don't know if it's going to pay off. Right. So I want to talk about your transition from going from ship captain, you know, on oil rigs, like making things happen out in the middle of the ocean to hard money. And I know we're going to skip some steps here cause it's you know, we only have 45 minutes, but I want to, I want to hear that story of how you went from that lifestyle to. All right. Now I'm doing hard money lending and this is my thing. Yeah, for sure, man. It, it kind of cycles back to connecting. Right. And that's the, the most important thing that's, you know, that I can say is like, it's all about connections and who, you know, and that's, I think why you have this podcast, right. To teach people that. So when I got laid off I was like, man, you know, I got to make some money and I've been reading about real estate and like, this is, you know, this is what I'm going to do full time. I'm just going to start flipping houses. Right. And so I just went ahead and did it. I had no idea what the heck I was doing. You know, buying houses off the MLS and trying to make some sort of profit doing the work myself. And as I was doing that, I'm listening to bigger pockets podcast, like back then, probably episode 30, right? And it was like, Brandon Turner, you know, it was so new. I listened to Robin Aoka at that point. Exactly, man. Episode 37. Yep, exactly. I, I listened from episode one I started there and by the time I was done this flip, you know, with my earbuds in the whole time, like 12 hour days I mean, I'm on episode a hundred, right? So I, I got a lot of knowledge that way as I was doing it. So the first flip, man, I, I was successful somehow and made like 35 grand on that, on that first flip. And then I was like, dude, this is sick. I can do this. And so we moved to Nashville just cause my wife was doing her fellowship at Vanderbilt. So it took us to Nashville where I immediately had to get plugged in with the doers in that market because this is now what I was doing with my career. And basically I have no money and I'm in a brand new market knowing nobody, right? So it's like, okay, what do you do? You go to the RIA, right? You start shaking hands with people. And so right away I met a really awesome real estate agent out there in Nashville, Michael Gomez. And he was flipping houses and he wanted to partner, right? And so, I immediately started doing deals in Nashville through Michael Gomez's you know, network, right? And so, that was awesome to immediately get plugged in because he saw that I was, like, just young and new and freakin hungry, right? And I was gonna work really hard. And was the ideal partner to have. So I had some savings plus I had time. It was like, okay, perfect. Like this is, this is the guy who's going to get all the work done. Right. So while I was doing that and networking and trying to meet as many people as possible. So on BiggerPockets, I saw this job posting for like hard money lending sales. And I was like, what the heck is that? That sounds really interesting. And so the job posting was basically like, we're looking for somebody that goes to real estate meetups. and wants to network and meet as many people as possible. And so I'm like, dude, that's me. That's exactly what I'm doing right now. Like there could not be a better fit for me at this point in my life. And so I called him up. I was like, dude, what's this all about, man? He's like, okay, well, let me tell you, we're expanding to Nashville and in Tennessee, and we need a guy that's going to be like, you know, basically our, our front man for. Hard money lending as we expand to that territory. And I was like, that's awesome. I have no sales experience and I have no lending experience, but I think I'm perfect for this role, right? Because, because it is exactly what I was doing already. I just had to learn the lending side of it. And, you know, I didn't know anything about sales, but I could certainly talk to people and I'm pretty sure like I could figure it out. Right. And so they flew me to Texas and they were like, dude, you're, you're our guy, you know, let's do it. And so that's sort of the brief version of how I got started doing hard money loans. I always thought it was like such a cool thing. Like hard money lenders were like. It's like the apex of the real estate investment industry. Right. I remember when I got, when I went to my first seminar in real estate, you know, the kind that's like kind of like a multi level marketing, they like hype you up, right? It was like Robert, Robert Kiyosaki's one. The first one's free. Then the next one's 500 bucks. And then the next one's 30, 000. Right. So the, the initial seminar I went to, like I saw on a sign. And it was this guy that was like super hyped and he was like, eventually one day. You could even become a hard money lender. And so from that day on, dude, I'm telling you like that set a fire under me. I was like, someday I'm going to be a hard money lender. That sounds awesome and bad ass and like, I'll be the guy, you know? And so when I saw that job posting, man, I was like, man, you're telling me I could do this without having to lend my own money or have like millions in the bank. Yeah, I could do it for other people. Right. And still be Dan, the hard money man. So, so that's where we're at. And I mean, really in the last seven years, so much has changed, right? Like back in the day, there wasn't a hard money lender on every corner of the street, right? Like back then there were only a few people that even knew what this was and even were selling the product. Right. Yeah, exactly. It's it was the Wild West back then like 2017 when I got started doing this stuff, like I maybe had three competitors in Nashville, which was, you know, it was amazing. There was still the national guys, but they didn't have the presence of what they're doing now, you know, and, and they're just, they're hammering the market, you know, with their, with their meetups. So it's, it's gotten a lot harder to compete. But luckily people still respect the local boots on the ground and the local relationship that they have with me and and I think at this point sort of look at me sort of as a mentor and you know the other companies man, we're just you know, everyone's just comparing rates, right? They're just rate shopping. They're calling all the usual suspects the big national lenders but when they call me, they expect to get, you know, more of a, more of a peer, right? Looking over their deal, making sure they're not going to get burned, right? I, you know, I'm going to tell you if your deal sucks, like is what it is. That's why more, my success rate has been so high with, with brand new investors, right? So I want to make sure they're safe. They come back to me for like 10 more deals. That's what it's all about. Yeah. I was I was at a meetup last night with Randy Shelly and, you know, they went at five and 15 and I was like, but it was cool because I mean, they know where they were, what their market is and they were sitting there and, and, you know, he was like, Are we going to be more expensive than other people? Yes. We have experience and we're going to lend on properties. Like he's, he's like, I flipped 500 houses. So, you know, if things go sideways, you've got me on your team. And so it's like, I feel like with lending, especially with like the business that we're building together, you know, it's not just about. Like the rate it's, it's about having someone there that actually cares about you being successful and is going to be invested in your deal, because if you go with like one of the big box lenders, that loan advisor probably doesn't know the last thing about real estate. They're just there because they can make a quick buck pushing loans, you know? Exactly, man. I mean, You know, those guys, they usually get passed around to like 10 different people and you can't like people just, you know, we'll text me at like 10 PM on a Saturday. Right. And I'm going to respond. You know, that's just like having the local boots on the ground, someone that cares and answers their phone. Like you get one person and there's tremendous value in that. We're never going to be the cheapest. And that's, that's totally cool. You know, it's fine with me. Like let the people that want the cheapest lender, like deal with that. And it's more like dealing with a bank, but with us, you get a friend and a mentor. Yeah, absolutely. Speaking of mentorship, I want you to talk about the new course you created and what kind of led to that. And then I guess we'll start with what it is and what led to it. Yeah, sure. So starting with what it is, I wanted to teach people how to do what I do, right? Which is private lending, right? Becoming the bank. I think it's the coolest thing Ever that no one really knows how to do and there's so many bros out there selling courses on like crypto Right like bitcoin wholesaling. I mean, there's like a thousand courses on wholesaling how to be a good real estate agent You know how to do day trading, right? And so people are interested in how do I get the best ROI? Possible in the safest manner in my personal experience There is nothing better Than private lending on real estate, right if you stick to what you know If you take the proper steps Nothing can beat it. I'll give you an example. So in all of the private loans And, you know, myself, myself directed 401k that I've brokered for other people, like all their private loans. I have 0 percent foreclosures ever, right? So what that means is people are getting high teens for returns with the likelihood of success close to 100%. If you can find me a single asset class in the world that can perform like that, I'm all ears, dude. I just haven't found it, right? So I want to expose this world to as many people as possible. Yes, there's a barrier to entry. Like you're making loans on real estate. So like, you know, my smallest loan out right now is 70, 000. My biggest loan is 1. 2 million. Like, so you want to have, you know, probably at least a hundred thousand dollars to get started. A couple hundred thousand will be better, but if you're interested in having that cash, you know, work for you at 15 to 20%. return instead of, you know, 4 percent sitting in a money market or the stock market, just going absolutely crazy all over the place right now. I honestly think private lending is where it's at. So I am really trying to get the word out there to as many people as possible and try to teach them how to do it safely. Cause if you don't know what the heck you're doing. You're just going for it and someone's maybe talking you into it like, Hey, yeah, you should lend on my project. Like, dude, I've watched so many people get burned the first time they ever do a loan because they don't know what to look for. They don't know the red flags, the green flags, how to do underwriting, any of that. And so it's honestly not that complicated. It's just a little bit nuanced. And so you really need a mentor looking over your shoulder who's done it before and walk the walk. So that's what the course is all about. I just launched it like a month ago. It's going awesome. My students are absolutely loving it. They're super psyched right now. And so that's just, that's my new thing, man. It's teaching people how to, how to be a private lender, hard money lender. Like, I feel like more people need to know how to do it. Yeah. I think that's a great segue to, and talk about Acadia capital and, you know, how that camp, that company came to be created and then how we started doing business together, I think that'd be a cool story to tell. Cause I actually have an ad that goes in every. Every Art of Connecting podcast now about Acadia. Speaking of what Better time than to run right into the sponsor of today's show, Acadia Capital. Acadia is a hard money lending fund originating loans in Southeast Tennessee and Northern Georgia on residential one to four unit renovation properties. We are regulation D five Oh six C fund and are actively seeking accredited investors. We provide fantastic first position real estate back returns. If you're ready to get your tired and lazy capital to work with a minimum 8 percent return, go to Acadia loans. com backslash invest. Not only do we accept standard investments, but we can also accept self directed IRAs and other self directed retirement accounts to take advantage of tax advantage investing. Thank you so much for listening to art connecting now back to the show. So, ah, I love it. Gonna be this is gonna be a little explanation of how it came to be born. I love it, man. So, yeah, I mean, you know, it was last year and I was finally like, you know what? I've been doing this long enough for somebody else, you know, making them tons of money. It's time to go out on my own. Like, I finally felt like, you know, after eight years of doing this. I can absolutely do this. I can run a fund. We've got great success rate on the private loans we do. So we should be lending other investors money out there and we should be the ones underwriting the deal and making sure everything's going safe and smooth. So that's sort of how it was born. My, you know, at Longhorn Investments, like The box got really tight on what we can lend in because the company has just grown so much. I think it's a lot more valuable to have a small local company, which is what Acadia capital is right now. And we can do all the underwriting, make all the decisions and have a great personal relationship boots on the ground with our borrowers. And so I think there's a lot of value in that and that's why we're here now. Absolutely. And it's been a fun adventure so far. It, you know, it's a lot more work probably than most people would ever imagined to create a fund from the ground up, you know, really a big challenge for us, I know, was having the right connections to create all the paperwork and actually get everything done in a timely manner, there's been a lot of challenges, a lot of challenges to get to here. But man, it's so worth it. It's really cool to. And we're just getting started, you know, but in the last two months between the two of us, we've raised 750, 000, which is nowhere near where we want to be, but it's still a really incredible, to me, it's an incredible feat to like have done that. And most people haven't done that before. So even though we're not where we want to be yet, and we're just getting started, what we've done so far is really cool. We'll get there. I'm not concerned one bit. It's so cool to, to have an idea, to go out and make it happen. You know, do all the paperwork, spend all the money, spend the hours, the late nights, the tough conversations, and you're finally up and running and making loans with your own software. And people are excited about it and they're leaving you, you know, reviews about the company you created. I mean, that's just amazing. You know, it's such a great feeling to be able to do that. And that's where we are now. And I'm just so excited for the future, man. Same here. And it's, it's you know, going from working with other people, or I've worked in lots of other companies and like other people have gone through that. I wasn't the person. Building it right and you can't really appreciate what it's like creating a startup company until you do it yourself and go through. All the many, like multiples of, of, of problems that you're going to run into. You know, it's almost like you're in a, you're in a mirror maze and you just like start bumping into different mirrors and you like have to figure out your way out to get started. But once you do, man, it's just, it's been amazing so far. And it's a lot of fun. A hundred percent. I mean, in this, you know, in creating a business, a startup, there's no four hour work week. That is for way down the line, and people read that book way too soon. There is no substitute for just freakin grinding, you know? And sometimes that's just what you have to do. You know, you put in the work up front to reap the rewards later on. Is what it is. So, I mean, we're gonna be working really hard on this thing into the future. But you know, someday it's going to be massively rewarding. Yeah, exactly. So I want to kind of shift a little bit and I want to talk about how important meetups have been to you and like the in person connections. Like you mentioned in the beginning, you were really excited to go to all these meetups and like go network with people. How did going to in person events help you grow your business? And how important was it? Yeah, great, great question. You know, honestly, it's been everything. I mean, I'm not really there so much for the education part of it. Most of that stuff you can get on YouTube and in books, right? It's really about the networking that happens before and after. I'll tell you the best networking is when you all go out to a bar after and have a couple cold ones. Right? Like way after the meetup, that's where the real genuine relationships are formed. And so, the best deals I've ever done in my life have come from knowing the right people. Where, you know, I tell the universe what I want, I tell people what I want, I ask what they want. And eventually, organically, the right opportunity comes around and you think of that person, or they think of you. They say, hey man, I remember that time he told me he was interested in multifamily. I should call him, right? So, as long as you have a massive Rolodex and a big network of people thinking about what you said you wanted that one time, right, and you remember what they wanted, something organically will eventually fall in your lap. Some people say no, but honestly, like, it's just a matter of time. Like, it's going to happen. That's literally exactly how we ended up doing business together. Do you remember, like, the first time we met? You may or may not, but I do. We met at the landlord luncheon that day. And you were wearing your longhorn hat and, like, everyone was coming up to you and they were talking and I was like, who the hell is this guy? Like, everybody seems to know him. And I finally, like, said, hey, after, like, but you're like, hey, I've got a jet. I've got to get back to Knoxville. Like, I've got to leave in a few minutes. And so we met, we started talking. It's like, oh, no way. I'm going to Knoxville tonight myself. I'm going to the Knoxville's best real estate meetup. You're like, Oh dude, I'll be there. Let's catch up then. And so I, you went down to Knoxville, I went down to Knoxville and I saw you again and I told you, I was like, I'm looking to buy multifamily. Like I want to get a, an 18 to 24 unit apartment complex B to C class. Cause I knew I was like, I'd come up with this goal. I wanted to buy an apartment complex and you're like, Oh, sick. I need cost seg and I need to reduce my taxable income. So I want an apartment complex. It's a value add and ended up trying on a bunch of different, like I had brokers that, you know, this was 2022 and all the deals were just complete and utter junk. And I brought a few deals that I thought were deals. You're like, yeah, no, these aren't deals. I was like okay. And, and then, you posted on Facebook, like, you posted, Hey, can, can someone clean out a mansion? It needs, it's gonna need like 12 dumpsters. And I was like, I, you'd meant, like, put it on Facebook one minute before I saw it. And I messaged you immediately. I was like, let me help you with that. Let me, let me take care of it. And so, you know, ended up going up to the project multiple times to make sure everything was done that needed to be done. And right in the middle of that, that's when the storage facility came along and your partner backed out. And it was like, you were like, I need an operator in Chattanooga. And I was like, already just like working on one of the projects. And it was like, Oh, Haydynn, why don't you just operate this? So it was like, so crazy how that one thing, putting it out there saying, Hey, I want an apartment complex. I want to buy a bigger asset turned into. Us partnering up together on the storage facility. Yeah, that's that's funny how that all worked out now that I think about it. But yeah, I mean what I saw in you right off the bat is that well number one, you're absolutely authentically yourself. And I've always respected that about you. I mean, you're the dude that's going to show up to an important meeting in a Hawaiian shirt. And that's sick, you know, like I'm never, I'm never doing that because I'm self conscious. Right. But like, dude, everyone will know you for that, like forever. Right. And so I thought that you were really aligned with, with a future in real estate investing. Like I could see that in you right away. Sometimes you meet people and you're just like, Oh, they're probably never going to do anything. But you were Like outgoing hungry. I could see it. Right. So it was amazing when you reached out, like offering to add value, that's the best way to reach out to somebody. Right. It was like, Hey, I've got a deal or like, you know, Hey, how can I help you with this? Right. Hey, I've got a clean out crew ready to go. Like, dude, that's amazing. You didn't reach out and say, Hey, let's grab coffee. I'd love to pick your brain. Like that's, there's nothing. I'd rather do less most of the time. So I mean, if you ask, if you ask them on a go play golf, I'd be like, hell yeah, but like, you know, I don't want to get lunch or coffee most of the time. So that, that was pretty damn cool how you reached out and I definitely respected that. And then when I saw your work ethic, I was like, dude, like I've got this deal on self storage, like it needs a manager. You would absolutely be perfect for this if you'd like to partner. And so I brought you in the deal, like manage the self storage facility. I gave you equity. It was just a no brainer for me. And you've absolutely crushed that role way exceeded my expectations. And so, you know, the next step was, Hey, I want to start my own lending company. Obviously, I'm going to include you and probably everything else I ever do in the future also. So I'm grateful, man. Honestly, I'm just really grateful. Same way here. It goes both ways. And that's like the most incredible part about going to a real estate meetup, like especially in Knoxville. Like if I had just met you in Chattanooga and talk for five minutes, like. So it probably would have gone completely differently, right? But I was so hungry and I wanted, like, to grow so bad. I was driving an hour and a half to another city to go and Network with people and you were doing the same thing, right? Like you're so hungry to grow your lending business. You were coming to Chattanooga for a lunch, right? Which very many lenders will do. And so I think it's just really cool to see the art of connecting on both sides. Like you were here in Chattanooga and that's what got it started. Cause if I hadn't met you for that five minutes. I would have probably not even said hi at not in Knoxville. Right. And then the other way around, if I hadn't met you for the five minutes in Chattanooga, we wouldn't have known to talk to each other for like the 30 minutes we did the first time we met in Knoxville. So it's just. It's really, really funny how that all works together. You know, both of us expending large amounts of effort, energy, and gas on networking events, it's led to, you know, wonderful partnership, multiple companies. You know, soon to be millions, if not tens of tens and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars managed. So it's just really incredible. And I think it's going to be such a cool story for people to listen to, to see like that, go to that meetup, like get in your car, drive your butt an hour and a half to the next city over. Because you never know what's on the other side of that meetup, like, or that event. It's just, it's incredible and how it compounds too. Exactly, man. I have another great story about that too, if you've got time. Yeah. Oh, dude, we've got time. We've got like 15 more minutes. Let it rip. Excellent. And that's, and that's what I love what you just said, by the way, like, the next time your listeners are, you know, there's a meetup going on and they're thinking about just like sitting in, in their living room, like on the couch, Netflix and chill instead. Like maybe remember this conversation that like, maybe there's one person out there at this meetup tonight that could actually change your life. And so I'll give you a story about one time that happened to me where, you know, I asked the dude to grab lunch with me. Right. And I just said, I hate grabbing lunch, but you know, I asked him, right. There's when you, when it goes the other way around, when you're asking for lunch, it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. I can ask people. They can't ask me. Right. So. Yeah, I mean, so we grabbed lunch, man, and we were talking about his wholesaling business. And I thought it was, it was really interesting all the deals he was doing, because he was sending me a lot of clients so I could fund his deals and giving him kickbacks. So he actually made a lot of extra money on my kickbacks. So we had a good relationship for a while. So I thought I'd treat him to lunch. And in that lunch, we finally sat down and got to each other, you know, on a deeper level. And we told each other, What do we want? Like right now, right? Like, what are you going after right now? What's your five year plan? Like, what's your five year vision? And where do you see your life going and what do you need right now to make that happen? Well, both of our answer was multifamily, right? I wanted to be, you know, doing more cost segs and I wanted to be getting more units. And so he was trying to do the same and man, I mean, it was probably a year later, like an entire year had passed by. And when he came across an amazing multifamily deal here in Knoxville, because I live here in Knoxville and we had had that conversation that he remembered, I was the first person he reached out to. He was like, Hey. I'm trying to take down 105 units in Knoxville. Would you like to partner? Yeah, dude, let's, let's hear about the deal, you know? And so that deal, man, I mean, he had bought some houses from the seller before, so they had a relationship. Turns out the seller owns a 105 unit apartment building and just wanted to sell it to Nick, right? And so, They had good rapport already and he wasn't going to sell it to anyone else. It's like, Hey guys, like what can you pay for this thing? Are you sure you can come up with the money? That's a lot of money. You guys look really young, right? And so we assured him we could because we were going to try to put together a syndication. And so the price we ended up at for the apartment building was 7. 62 million, just because in our conversation, 7. 62 was his favorite ammunition. So like we, he had that in his head. So when he threw out a number, he's like, yeah, 7. 62. Okay, great. And we were ready to pay 8 million for it. So like, that's perfect. Like we won't even negotiate. And so we started reaching out to raise capital and do a syndication and some other local apartment buyers were like, Hey, can we actually buy it from you? Like right now, you guys don't have to do anything. You just walk away from it. We'll buy it. You guys double close. We'll take it. They wanted it at 10 and a half million. So like, Oh my God, like we, if we could come up with 7. 62 million, somehow we might actually be able to sell it for 10 and a half million. the same day, double closing. So we're going to make like 2. 9 million bucks, just life changing amount of money, right? For most people. So luckily I have an amazing backing of capital at Longhorn investments, right? Because I had fell into that role and they run a big fund. And so, you know, I made a phone call to the CEO of Longhorn, like, Hey, can I borrow 8 million bucks for a day? He was like, sure. Right? So there's, there's no other sequence of events to where we could have pulled this off. Like I was in the right place at the right time with, with Longhorn and then getting lunch with Nick and telling him what I wanted. And that we walked with a, with it for almost 3 million bucks in one day, you know, well, it wasn't one day. I mean, the whole thing took, you know, about six weeks to properly pull off, but day of closing, we double closed it. Right. Everything went. smoothly. It was harder than I thought we were running all over town, but I mean, we pulled it off, man. And that was just the best deal I've ever done. Probably will never come across a deal like that again, but it just goes back to telling the universe what you want, telling people what you want and building. Relationships, and they'll remember you for it. I feel like once in a lifetime or maybe even like, you know, they say it's probably like two or three, like once in a lifetime types of things. That's valid. Think about how easy it would have been for you to have looked at that and say, yikes, like eight million dollars, there's no way. Like, that's over my head, you know, and, and that's what happens with a lot of people. You know, they hear about an opportunity. And it's a great opportunity. They know it's a great opportunity. They, maybe they don't always know how great of opportunity it is. And they go, eh, that's over my head. That's too big. And that's the reason why this podcast exists is because. You know, Nick probably felt like that may have been something too big to take down by himself. So that's why he called you. Right. And so having those people, when you have something that's too big for yourself, when you have a project that is like, Whoa, that's like really scary. Having that person that you can go call, like for a lot of, you know, for some deals, that's you. When I have something that's like over my head, I'm like, Dan, take a look, take a peek at this and see you know, And having that person that when something goes over your head, you don't have to just say, no, I can't take it. No, that's not a deal for me. You can actually go and, and at least attempt to take it down. If you have the right connections and the right people to call. Exactly. Well said. Yeah. And, and also if someone's listening and you're like, I come across these opportunities, but I don't know who to call, send me a message, you know, like, even if it's not a deal that I can help out with, I know a lot of people. It's the whole, whole point of this. So, you know, if there's a deal that you come across and you're like, man, this seems like a really solid deal, send it to me because like Dan, I'll tell you if your deals. Hot or if it's not, you know, I'm, I'm not going to be afraid to tell you like, Oh, what about this, this and this? So yeah, yeah, open opportunity there. If you, if you have a deal you're interested in and you think it's a good deal, send it to me, I'll take a look at it. Call Haydynn Haydynn will call his best friend, Ben Mala or someone like that in his network. Yeah, that's it. You know, I don't have to be able to take it down. If it's a good enough deal, I'll call Shane. I'll call Ben. I'll call Ted. You know, we'll get it done. We'll put together the money. We can make it happen. Yes, sir. So that's awesome. I love the story. And it's always so fun to hear that story because it's just such, it sounds like it's not real, right? Like it's one of those things where people are going to hear that and they're going to be like. Yeah, right. That guy didn't actually do that shit. You know, there's going to be people that don't believe you. The 3 million wholesale deal. Like that's, that's the story. That's ridiculous. Like, right. Yeah, that happens. It does. It happens. Yep. And you've got to be ready for your home run. Like, like you've got to be constantly ready for when you say, I want to do this, right? Like my this year is I'm raising 30 million for Acadia. Dan, when we talked about that, he was like, Haydynn I don't know. You know, that's a lot of money. Like, you sure you don't want to do 15 million? Like that's a, it seems like a more reasonable goal. And for a while I was like, yeah, I'll just say I'll raise 15 million. I literally, I called him the other day and I was like, I don't feel right saying 15 million. Like it just, it doesn't feel right. I want to raise 30 million because that will allow us when we have 30 million in the fund, that allows us to be able to cover the existing loan volume that we have in our market. And that's what I want to do. Like by the end of this year, I want every single loan that possibly can be done by me or Dan or any of our referral partners to be done in our fund. And so. Big goals, bro. And big goals, it, it kind of ends up being big relationships when you, when you put it out there. Heck yeah, man. I, my goal was 15. You said, no, that's child's play. Let's do 30. I said, okay. Like, man, that's why we're partners. You know, you lift me up. Yeah. Tell me when I'm getting short sighted. We're going to do it. That's the thing. Even if it don't, like, even if I can't hit it this year, like 30 million, it's going to be a cake walk, bro. I know too many people that like could make three phone calls and raise that. Like I was on a call with Brandon Turner and just sitting there. He's like, yeah, in my first two years, I raised a billion dollars. And I'm like, why in the hell am I having a hard time raising 30 million? Now, granted, I mean, he has seven years of building out bigger pockets and being the host, being the guy, being the beardy guy. Right. But. If that guy can do it, there's no reason why we can't do it. A hundred percent. And, you know, I've invested in his fund and you know, it's okay. I honestly think what we're offering is superior in terms of safety and, and track record and everything. So. It should be a no brainer. It's just, you got to get the word out. And that's the hardest part. And you got to get more connections. Like no matter how connected I get, no matter how connected Dan gets, we're always going to need more connections, right? Like to get to the next level, you can't get comfortable because as soon as you think you got it, that's when a problem will be thrown at you that you need someone else to help solve. Exactly. Yeah. Awesome. So I want to talk about I want to talk about like the web, like, like I want to talk about your referrals and all that type of stuff because some people don't know this and I'll, I'll brag on you a little bit as my partner, but Dan is the largest hard money lender in the state of Tennessee by volume when you count an origination officer that's doing loans and you're also number one in the whole organization with over 400 origination officers. Correct me if I'm wrong there, right? Like there's over 400 of you now, right? Okay. No, no. There's a, I think 25. Oh, 25. I don't know where I got 400. Maybe you're thinking of like Kiavi or some massive organization, but you'll nonetheless, they were like four of us. Now there's 25. Right. And you're, you're the old head now in Longhorn and you're still at the top. Right. So I want to talk about how, how do you create those referral relationships? How do you get people to trust you enough to send you their friends? And then also how do you close those deals? Right? Cause this is all. through the art of connecting, right? You're utilizing connections to be able to get to where you want to go and to be the top of your, your sales class, to be able to start new businesses. So how do you create those relationships strong enough that they refer you and how do you get referrals to continue to grow your business? Yeah, very good question. So, you know, I've never been great. At marketing, you know, I don't market myself very well. I don't follow up with people the way I should. What I think I've always excelled at is building personal relationships. And so if I'm able to do a great job for somebody and just really like exceed their expectations, they're going to tell their friends, right? The next time someone says, Hey, I need a hard money lender. Do you know anybody like I want them to immediately think of me, right? And so initially, because I was terrible at marketing. And I had no sales experience. Like it took me like four months to get my first loan. Right. And then the next month after that, I did two, then I did three and then four, and then 10, right? Because the spider web of referrals started to really grow. And it's the same as if you're a brand new real estate agent and you're struggling to get your, your foot in the door, right? It starts off slow. And then once you get referrals built, like then it gets really easy. Right. And so to get those referrals. All you have to do is crush it for that person and they'll tell their friends about you. Right. And so, you know, I was answering my phone. I'll give you a story. Like it was our anniversary, right? And we were in the Smokies staying in this beautiful bed, bed and breakfast. My wife was like, don't you dare. Answer your phone today. It was Sunday, right? She's like, I, I swear, don't you better, this is the one day, you know, just don't. And my phone rang at 1 PM. Right. And I'm like, it's in my pocket vibrating. I was just like, Hey, I'm going to go you know, outside and look at the birds. You know, I snuck out and I'm like, hello, right. I snuck out and I took this call. I mean, people are calling me on Sunday, right? Like most. Lenders just aren't going to answer their phone. Right. But I was, because I knew that if I do stuff like that, that nobody else is willing to do, I'm going to get their business. Right. And so when I snuck out, like I did end up getting that deal and they sent me to several other people in their network, they ended up doing five deals with me. So that one phone call 30 grand. Right. So it's like, don't skip that phone call. Right. And so just go out of your way to crush it for people on the first contact. Right. Like don't be corporate, just be yourself. Right. When, when people call me, you know, I, sometimes I swear, you know, I slip up. I say things like, yeah, man, that sounds great. Like, you know, I'm just myself. Right. And I think people respond to that and they, they ended up wanting to work with me. So, you know, I also went above and beyond I don't have as much time for it anymore, but you know, getting started, I used to like send people actual deals, right, and connect them with wholesalers. And, you know, I'd always vet their deals, I'd vet their rehab budgets, I would go out to properties with them. And, and get, you know, a second set of eyes on property. So like going way above and beyond what anyone else was willing to do. And that initially, you know, exploded my business. And those are the things that you don't have to do forever. Right. But it's in the beginning, right. When you're starting a new venture, you have to do something to stand out because they're especially now, like now I feel like more than ever. There are just so many people doing so many side hustles, right. There's so many hair, haircutting, you know, real estate agents, or, you know, stay at home, mom, realtors, or, you know, all of these different things where people are like, like. One butt cheek on one horse and one on the other. And I've been there, you know, like it's, it's, I've been there so many times too. That's your competition. Your competition is half assers. So if you go and you full ass and you've got both butt cheeks on the same saddle, you're going to go and you're going to ride far. So that's like, that's like the biggest crack it up. Yeah. You heard it here tonight. First folks, you gotta go full ass. Go full ass. That's what you gotta do, And like, I've been guilty myself. I'm literally talking to myself here of like just having one cheek on each side and you know, that does not make for a comfortable ride and it's not easy to do and you're just like not doing good at anything if you're half. In on something. And so like, is it okay to have side hustles yet? Like me and Dan, like if, if someone brought a deal to us today, that's like, Oh, you make 400 grand on this. It's like, hell yeah, we're going to do that deal and we're going to look at it and we're going to do it. But like, that's gotta be the side gig, right? Like you've got to make sure that I've had to learn this myself as I continue to grow and learn more. When people talk to me, I talk about Acadia first and foremost. Now it's not anything else because that's my venture that I'm all in on. And so like when you're going, if you're a aspiring agent, if you just started, you know, and you still work your corporate job, that is gone. Like, like if you're at a networking event, you don't even work at that place. If someone like, like you are a real estate agent and that's what you do. If you, you know, you're in that corporate meeting and you're working on leaving your job and that phone rings and it's your client, Oh man, I've got to go. I'm so sorry. One second. You know, you got to go off and take that call because it's not where you are now. It's where you're going. And if you truly believe where you're going and where you're going and you believe in yourself, you will make those sacrifices and you'll get to where you want to go. And there are going to be other people that come alongside you, your connections, your network to help push you to where you want to go. I love it. Yeah, man. Got me on it. That was fun. I love getting on those little, little side quests rips and you got my, my phone here staring at me. So that'll probably be a real but yeah, man, we are already at our time. So I want to ask you our last question that I asked every guest and that is, what is a connection to a person or group of people that changed the trajectory of your life or business? How many people on this podcast say their wife? Oh, I think I've had probably four or five say that in the fifty, fifty nine episodes that I've done. Yeah, it may, it may be a generic answer, and I can say someone else, you know, if needed. But, but honestly, there's, there's no single person that someone can meet in their life that could have a bigger effect on the rest of their life, in, in all aspects of their life, than meeting the right spouse, right, in terms of You know, mother of your kids having a support network, you know, potentially, you know, their their motivations towards what you're doing, right, giving you support or telling you, you can't do it or lifting you up. Like, there's no more important person than your spouse. And so that is first and foremost, like marry the right person. If you're going to get married. They have to support what you're doing. Awesome. There you go. And then if I want to, I want to pay you back on that. We're not quite done yet. Cause that is kind of a can of worms. Like what about if your spouse isn't supportive of you at the moment? Like how do you navigate that? Yeah, that's, that's a tough one, man. I was actually in a mastermind multifamily mastermind and one of the girls. in that mastermind actually divorced her husband because he wasn't supporting her vision of where she wanted to go right they hadn't actually done any deals yet but he was like no this is too risky and she was like this is our future this is what we should be doing and they actually got divorced over that. I was like, Whoa, man, that's like really extreme. I hope it never comes to that for anybody, but like if your spouse isn't on board, there's one thing you can do to kind of change their mindset. And it's, it's probably the same thing that sparks many, many entrepreneurs on this crazy journey in, in that initial mindset shift. And it's. It's that one little purple book right there. Rich dad, poor dad, right? That book sets everybody's mindset differently. I don't know how it does it, but it just changes your mind to say, wow, this is actually how the world works. Like, maybe we should be buying real estate and businesses and thinking about cash flow. Like, maybe this is the path, right? So, I would say, you know, if your spouse isn't on board, see if they'll go ahead and read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. And, and maybe they'll, they'll come on board. That was the one thing where, where Marion was like, Oh, like, I get it now. This is sick. We should absolutely be doing this. Yeah, that's like a one, you know, this is one ask, can you please just read this one book? And then, you know, if it doesn't work from there, he's got, you know, I am an unmarried single man. So ladies, if you're listening to this Hit me up joking. I don't think any any of my, my audiences is ladies. If you're listening, this dude looks great in a Hawaiian shirt and he goes full ass. No half assing over here. All right. Awesome. This was such a fun episode. And guys, if you got value out of this episode, which I don't see how you. Couldn't have, if you're still here, please leave a five star rating and review on the podcast. It means so much to me and that's how I grow the show. So if you're on Spotify, scroll up to the top, click that five star button. If you're on Apple podcasts, scroll down to the bottom and click that five star and share with your friends, share it everywhere, share it on your, your your LinkedIn, share it on your Facebook, share it on your Instagram, share it everywhere because. That will help us grow the show. So thanks for listening. We'll catch you on the next episode.