So I go to the post, it's a wholesaler. I reach out to the wholesaler on Facebook Marketplace and he texts me and we go under contract like the next day because I send'em to some, some of my builders. So we, we got that and he's like, wow, you were so great to work with. Here's like five other deals that I have under contract right now. One of them being a$2.2 million liquor store. Welcome back to The Art of Connecting Podcast. This is your host here, Haydynn, back with another episode for you guys. And today I'm actually coming to you live from Knoxville, Tennessee. The first time actually that I've ever recorded a podcast in Knoxville. And today we're here with my good friend Lydia Caps. How are you? Hey, I'm so happy to do this. I've, like, you've been talking about your podcast for so long and I feel like you have so many people on it and I love what you're about with connecting. So yeah, we, it was super fun. We get to just talk like we always do except on podcast. Yeah, for sure. We're just like recording it now. Yeah, yeah. We've been going for over two years now. Mm-hmm. Which is. Freaking nuts. I know. Time flies. It's actually like scary. Yeah. And it's so funny how few people listen to the podcast and so I'm like, for two years I've had, but also at the same time that there are people that listen every single week. And like I look at the reports, like we had, you know, 20, 30 people a week that listened to the show and the fireplace just went out. I thought you were saying that We've been friends for two years. We have, which I think we have. We have been friends for two years, which is also fun. I'm pretty sure. Yeah. Wait, when did we, when did we first meet? I could pull it up on my calendar. Yeah, I love that you just have your calendar so laid out so well that you can pull it up and see what date? October 10th, 2023. Wow. So two, two year and a half, two years in October. Yeah. So anyways, Lydia, why don't you tell the people who you are. What you do, all the fun things. I've been in Knoxville since I was 12, so about a decade. All my family is from here, but I moved around a little bit when I was little. I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, about five minutes from the Derby. Been here since I was 12. I always wanted to be a doctor since like sixth grade. I worked in ophthalmology, dentistry, cardiology, and I always like wanted to have my own practice and like that was like the end all, be all. Maybe get into some kind of private equity play with having a few different practices. But ever since I was 18 and discovered credit and that I could start playing into this game of credit, I started really getting into investing in credit and just got like super curious about anything and everything business. I would as, I mean, I was an, as an 18-year-old, just show up to random events in Knoxville, cold email business owners and I mean, not, not real estate or anything related like business or law, healthcare management, a bunch of different stuff. And I wound up at this real estate. Event at some small brokerage in Knoxville and ended up being the only person there. So I talked to the broker for like three hours that day, signed up for my real estate license, and since then, oh, I forgot to mention, I I, in my investing in credit deep dive research, on my own time I got involved with a syndication group based outta Chicago. So that was kind of where my. Peak of interest in real estate came, I was like, wow, real estate is a super lucrative way to invest. And was just like, I was on investor calls all day for them, kind of in like a sales role. Still commissioned but not licensed. So I figured getting licensed, what's the next step. And now I've been licensed for about two years, which is insane too. Time flies and my whole like trajectory and long-term plan for my life has like completely shifted. So That's awesome. And I get to meet incredible people like you. Yeah. Along the way. Yeah, it's, it was crazy.'cause I remember when we first met, so that means that when we first met, you had been licensed for probably like six months. Four months. Four months, yeah. At that point. And when we, I remember when we first met, you were like, yeah, I kind of wanted to be a nurse. I still don't really know if this real estate thing is really for me or not. And like I was like. Yeah, you're doing so good. Like I found you through social media, like you're posting. Mm-hmm. And that's how we ended up getting connected. I think someone actually may have told you to follow me or something like that. And then you, you told me the story Justin Meyers. Yeah. He was like you to follow Haydynn because her, her, his daughter's name is Haydynn. Ah, yeah. And I like spelled his daughter's name wrong. And he thought I was talking about you. And he was like, oh, I thought you were talking about this Haydynn kid from Chato. And then I was like, okay, who's this Haydynn kid? So then I looked you up on social media. That's so funny. And the rest is history. Yeah. It, it, it's really, really funny how small the real estate world gets and how relationships are built. Mm-hmm. You know, and it can be the smallest little thing, like someone follows me on social media and I see what they're doing and I'm like, that's interesting. Like. I'm never afraid to DM anybody. Like I'll just, right. You know, there's no shame. I'll just DM you and ask like, Hey, do you wanna go grab coffee? Or we grab sushi. Yeah. And I wanna hear about what you're doing. I was just telling somebody about that yesterday. The people in this industry are so curious about everyone, like, and there is no hesitation for it to be weird or something to just like reach out to somebody or yeah, just talk to them and ask them about them. you get so many reps of meeting new people all the time, all the time. Like there is no, then, then you just get to a point of I have no issue talking to anybody for hours. And I used to be painfully shy, which is so hard for me to believe when you told me that one time, you're like, yeah, I'm, I'm I was super shy and I was like, talk about, I mean, I went to a private school, I graduated with six people. I didn't have, I was, yeah, very in a bubble. Now you speak on podcasts, you speak to groups and colleges. You run the real estate club at UTK. Mm-hmm. And I got to speak for that. It was an amazing experience just to see those students were locked. Yeah. And that was so cool to see. it's great. I mean, we have freshmen in the professional sales club that are Po like already getting over their fear of posting on social media, you know, and like putting their stuff out there, like their devotions or their workouts or not even anything specific in business, but are so mature I feel like, compared to a lot of college kids. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Or just pursuing good things. I was, I was really impressed. I was really impressed by the group of you guys. So you've had your license for two years now? Tell me a little bit about what that's been like. You know, and let's start at the beginning.'cause something that I get asked so much now is Haydynn, how do I get started? Mm-hmm. that's just like such a common question of okay, you're bringing in these people that are worth, you know, hundreds of millions or, or a billion dollars to come speak to us. That's cool. But how did you start? Yeah. So that'd be a cool story. I mean, that, how'd you get start? That's a. Very commonly asked question, I think, for anybody in business too. Think we harped on this at, on the real estate panel too. All the people that you look up to, no matter in what level of business you're at. Didn't know what the hell they were doing when they started either. Mm. It is so much trial and error, but also having the confidence to be like, I know I'm not gonna know everything and I know I'm gonna change my mind about things and I know I'm gonna get told no and I'm gonna be okay with that and I'm gonna find the answer. Yeah. Or I'm gonna find people that know the answer and I'm not gonna have a problem talking to them. So I mean, from the beginning obviously. You start with zero connections in real estate. I mean, I, I knew maybe the person that I went to the conference of and then, you know, I know my broker and then maybe a few people in my office and then I meet some other people at networking events that are young and trying to get into it too. And it's just this, like branches of this tree that keep growing. And it does, I mean, speaking from a like real estate agent perspective, but I think really anything in a business perspective is. It just feels like treading water and trying to try, try all the things that people are recommending to you and see what sticks and feel like you're going in 90 different directions at once, which I kind of feel like I'm still going in 90 directions at once. I still feel like that sometimes. And you do too. Yep. But that's just with, you know, more attention and responsibility. You have to carry a lot of hats, but be wise about it. So I really started to get traction with cold calling. Now it's social media that runs over 87% of my business, but I never intended it for to, for it to be that way. But I think in my phase of trying to do a hundred different things to get business and see what stuck, I was going to a bunch of events. I was meeting people, which is never a bad idea, a connection's. Any connection's? Not a bad connection. Yeah. I don't think, I mean you can use them or you can't use them, but you still met a person, you still developed your communication skills and all that. So I was meeting a lot of people. I was pushing the most random stuff on Instagram, like not good content. Just'cause I thought that was what I was supposed to do. And that kind of paired with I think networking and social media kind of paired hand in hand.'cause I was meeting these people and they're like, wow, she's young and she's getting into the business. And at that time there weren't as many young people getting their license. Now I have this 25 and hundred group and there's 32 of us, which is awesome. But I would meet people, I'd follow'em on social media immediately they'd follow me back. And so then it just became this cRM. Basically, I think social media is like the best CRM because for instance, I just closed this client a couple months ago. We met at Grid over a year ago, and he kept up with me on social media. Yeah. It's not like I'm having to reach back out to him every month to like make sure he remembers who I am connecting with. No expectation is what I tell people too, I am not, people are like, oh, well you go to a networking event, what are you doing? I go in with no expectation. I'm gonna meet people, I'm gonna. Have pleasant conversations, I'm gonna follow'em on social media immediately after. And that's that. Yeah. If it's like, yeah, I have a need right now, then yeah, there can be expectation there. But like I said, I don't think any connection's, a bad connection. But that's perfect. I love that explanation. So that's really unique, especially like, I think for a female is a lot, and maybe I'm wrong in this, but like a lot of females with social media, they're like, I don't wanna just follow a random person or like an old man or anything like that. They wanna like curate their little follower list. Right. But you know, whether you, you know, if you can find someone on social media, you're gonna follow them. Yeah. And. I mean, unless they actually are a creep or an old man. Sure. Yeah. But like at the end of the day, whether it's I'm gonna sell their house or not, I can learn something from everybody. Mm. I'm not following somebody so that they can see my content and be like, wow, she's so good at selling houses. Yeah. Like, it could literally be anything. And, and really at the root of that, I really do care about people and I love making new friends and getting to know somebody. Yeah. Yeah. And, and I think that's where you have to come from a point you made about, you never know who's watching. The child is looking out the door at us right now. You just never know who's looking at you. Yeah. You really don't. And back to that instance with a guy I met like over a year ago at a networking event. I, you know, met no expectation. I didn't know he was gonna have to sell his condo in a year. I had called him two months before because I had a client that was looking at buying like 47 acres and it's a lot of lenders don't lend on just land, as I'm sure you know. Mm-hmm. So I look up in my contacts lender, he pops up, he's a commercial lender. I'm like, oh, I haven't talked to this guy in a year, but I called him up and he was like, no, we don't lend on that. But it was still like a touch point. And he is like, oh, I remember this girl like we met at Grid. And then he just text me. A couple months later, it's like, Hey, do you wanna sell my condo? Wow. Lay up. Yeah. Easy. Right? And it sounds easy, but it was all, it was all of those little touches over time that created that result. Right. But it wasn't forced and there wasn't an expectation. Yeah, exactly. And what if you hadn't have gone to the meetup that night? Or what if you hadn't have followed that person? Right. And it wouldn't have happened. If you hadn't have logged him in your contacts, even if you met him, he's like, oh, it's good to meet you. Yeah. And just so it's all those things that come together to create this like network and it takes years. Mm-hmm. Right? It's not just a, oh, you know, I met this guy. And sometimes it is, you know, within a week, a month you can do business together. But a lot of times it's like. A year, two years. I've had people that, like I literally met two or three years ago when I was just getting started. Yeah. And they followed me on Instagram or Facebook, and they've seen what I'm doing and they're like, mm-hmm. Hey, we need to catch up. And then it's like, then I find out they're buying apartment complexes and I'm like, yeah, why don't we fund your apartment complex for you? Yeah. And that, that's another point is it's never too early to start networking, even if you feel like you can't provide a huge value, or you have this massive business that's actually gonna do deals for people like. I bet you when I first met Corey, which was this client, I didn't know what I was doing. I mean, not in the way that I do now. I still had my license, but like he's kept up with me mm-hmm. On social media over the last two years and I've, you know, completely, I mean, my business looks completely different than it did two years ago. Same as you. I mean, you met this person two, three years ago. They're just now, you know, like, Hey, we need to catch up. Yeah. You weren't doing Acadia, you weren't doing, I mean, all these things. Amazing things that you're doing now that you wouldn't have had the capacity to do two, three years ago. But now you are Right. But you still know that person and they still are like, yeah, I remember Haydynn. He was nice. Yeah. And he looks to be doing great things. Yeah. And then it goes back to the genuine, caring about people. He brought up another great point. So many people that I know, they, they're like, I invite them to the meetup, for example, and they're like, well, I, I'm not in real estate yet. Can I come? I'm like, yes. That's the best time to come. Yeah. You don't, you know how, how do you think I learned everything that I learned? Mm-hmm. Was like going to real estate meetups, show up and, and then there's people who's like, well, you know, but I'm not doing any real estate. You have all these big people in the room. Like, that's the point. Yeah. That's why it exists, is for you to learn what you need to learn by being in the room and absolutely no one. It's going to look at that new person and be like, oh, why are they here? They haven't done anything. What are you doing here? In fact, actually when they meet you, they're probably gonna be excited that you're there. Like, wow. Look at you for like taking a step and coming this is the right room to be in. Exactly. And you, as a new person, your biggest asset is time because you probably are not too busy. Yeah. And all of us are extremely busy. Right. And. So you have a lot to offer people that are busy. Yeah. I have several people in my organization now that, that I'm too busy to do what they do, and so I brought them in to, you know, I have a social media manager now. I've got a landscaper now and storage manager and all these people that helped me run my businesses because I can't do all of it. And I had to learn that the hard way by literally forgetting my mother's birthday. Because I was too busy. I remember that. I remember that. I think you were one of the first people I texted.'cause I was like, I was like, Lydia's gonna understand me in this. Like, didn't you like drive to Nashville that day to bring her flowers? I literally drove to Nashville to bring her flowers. Yes. Yeah, that was a, that was a rough day. But that was when I was like, all right, I'm too busy. I gotta cut some stuff. Mm-hmm. And yeah, you never know, even if you're in marketing or if you're. You're you know, you have a landscaping company going to networking events. You never know who you're gonna meet. Mm-hmm. And I always say you're one connection away from changing your life or business. Right? Because you truly are could be just one person that you meet and changes your life. Well, cool. Well, I would love for you to tell me a, that story that you were kind of talking about a little bit before.'cause that was really cool to hear the, like the clienting point. Yeah, the connections, all the, all the different connections that led to where you were. For background, we were just talking about how intricate of a network your, your connections can get and once you step back to I mean even now, how we met and now and how we're in Dan's house right now and like how, like that's just crazy. So. When you're doing deals, taking a step back and realizing wow, I didn't know these pe any of these people two years ago. And they've all come from completely different places. So for example I had a random call from a California number one day, and it was a guy that found me on social media that was looking for lots in Knoxville to build. And he was like, here's my criteria under 50 grand and these zip codes, blah, blah, blah. So I run a search and I also post in several Facebook groups that I'm in. here's what I'm looking for. I have a buyer, cash, easy, close, whatever, all these Facebook groups that I'm now in because of people that are like, Hey, you should join this. Hey, come to this networking event, or the grid event, or whatever. And so I get a bunch of responses and this guy, this investor texts me. He is like, Hey, I saw your Facebook post. I have this lot. From a wholesaler. I'm gonna pass it up, but thought I would just pass it on to you in case you wanted it. I'm like, great, thanks. So I go to the post, it's a wholesaler. I reach out to the wholesaler on Facebook Marketplace and he texts me and we go under contract like the next day because I send'em to some, some of my builders. So we, we got that and he's like, wow, you were so great to work with. Here's like five other deals that I have under contract right now. One of them being a$2.2 million liquor store. You might think what, I mean, what am I gonna do with the liquor store? But I call up my friend Aaron, who was on the real estate panel with me, and he is like, yeah, I have this guy that loves that street, loves that zip code, buy just about anything. He like, grew up with nothing. Went to Austin East and now just like, puts a ton of money into the community is looking for something exactly like this. So. We all meet at the property like the next week. This wholesaler Aaron, who's my friend, who then brings the buyer who he got connected to.'cause he like took a chance on him on his first commercial listing and the seller of the liquor store. And it's like, what are the odds that it's like from the a Facebook marketplace listing that someone then texted me that I then have a connection from two years ago that I like went to school with and is in real estate. And then knows this guy, and now we're putting a multimillion dollar commercial deal together that, I mean, I don't know how to sell a liquor store, but if you can be the person that is known for what you do. Like people, when people think real estate, they think real estate equals Lydia Caps. Yeah. And then I know the people that can service that if you're the point of contact, but then you can know the people. You've got a deal. You don't have to be the expert. Yeah. And you don't need to make all of it. You know, you can get paid out half a percent or a percent. My mentor said the other day, 10% of a watermelon is better than a hundred percent of a grape. Yeah. Yeah. I get paid. I get paid out 0.00075% on a lot of the commercial finance deals that I do. Yep. But when you're talking about a hundred million bucks. It add, it's not a bad check. It adds on up. Yeah. Yeah. So you only need to make a small little bit, and I just base it on how much effort I'm doing. Like, you know, for example, with my commercial lending, I work as a, you know, referral consultant for that company. So a lot of what I do is the procurement and then they handle everything else. Right? Right. Like, they literally carry the ball from the one yard line to the a hundred yard line and like, so I get paid 10%. To, to bring it to the one yard line, right? Mm-hmm. Which is fantastic. So yeah, I think that's a great lesson. You don't, you don't have to get paid the whole thing, or you don't have to know how to do all of it. You just need to know the right people that do, and you can get paid a little bit. Yeah. Because that's, I mean, that's the root of everybody's problem. Like, what do we need in real estate? We need people with money. We need people that, I mean, as a realtor, like people that know how to give a killer list listing presentation. Like do you know people that can do all that? Yes. Be the connecting point. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And that's like any business really. Like if you're in any type of sales, being the connector is such a value add to your clients.'cause if they, like I strive to be the person when someone says, oh there's this like weird and unusual request, it's like, call Haydynn. Yeah. You know? And, and that's why I specialize in, if you have a weird or unusual request, like if you're like, yeah, I'm buying a$20 million building, I don't know what the hell to do. Call Haydynn, you know? He's got all the people that you need to make that happen.'cause he's around people that do it all day long. Mm-hmm. And it's really cool to get to be that person. It's, it's a really, it's honestly an amazing experience as the person that gets to do it because you learn so much along the way. And if you're someone like me, I always just wanna learn things. It's really what it all Yeah. Boils back to is I just wanna learn. And so if you can be that connector, it allows you amazing opportunities to learn. Exactly. I told someone that the other day, like my commercial partner Aaron, I, I could very well just give him this client, be like, gimme the referral cut. I know you know how to handle it better than me, but I want to know what I don't know. Like I wanna learn commercial, I wanna learn how to sell liquor stores. I want, why would I not? Mm-hmm. And that's a really cool position to be in too, when you get to introduce people that don't know each other but that are. Both pursuing good things to you then be the connecting point. And then they like each other and then they all like you. And it's just fun. And it's like we have new friends and you're, I mean, it's edification too. Yeah. It's like, Hey, you should know Aaron. He's a great guy to know. And then Aaron likes this guy and he's edifying this guy. And it's just, it's a cool, I mean, that's, that's why I feel like business and real estate is so addicting.'cause it's like you just meet incredible people and you just, yeah. I mean, edification all around and every day is different. So yeah. So how, so you landed on real estate by going to this random event. You talked to the broker and you're like, alright, I guess I'm gonna do real estate now instead of being a doctor. Like what was going through your head and like how, how did you make that decision? I mean, I had had some background with being on the syndication team and you know, the investing side of real estate. But as far as selling, I was like, I, it really was the people, I made a post about this the other day, but like the people that I met in real estate just clicked. Mm. Because I feel like I was always pushing for something more in like healthcare and was just not surrounded by good people. And I was like. I know I can do more than this. Yeah. And there's people that don't think like this out there. And real estate just breeds a, a crazy kind of person 99% of the time. Yeah. And I was like, okay. I mean, I get my license worse. It comes to worst. I don't like it. I've spent a couple hundred dollars on my license. Why would I not just try it at least? Mm-hmm. Like at the end of the day, I am learning, which is what I've always loved, like you're saying. Yeah. Like if you just love the process of learning, you're gonna get great places. Even if it is the wrong path, say, I, I hated it. I still learned. Right. So, and that, and that would've readjusted me to something else. Right. It's never a loss, it's a lesson. Right, right. Yeah. I. There's actually a song called Cutting is called Lessons. It's by Lecrae. I used to love that song. That's one of my favorites. I haven't listened to Lecrae since middle school. I know it was probably about that long ago. Maybe, maybe early high school. But it says if you, if you ever took a loss, that's a lesson. Mm-hmm. And yeah, I think like at this point in the podcast, it's such a great time to just say like, if you're listening to this. You are like, man, that sounds really cool. being able to just kind of happen into a crazy multimillion dollar deal. Honestly, that's commonplace in real estate. Yeah. Like, I'm not even, I, I'm so real with all the people because there's so many people out there that are, are trying to be fake. Right. And they're like the example of the person I talked to you about earlier, we won't name names, but on Facebook. Oh, we just, I just bought, I just bought. 300 some odd unit apartment complex in a certain city, and I know the people that actually bought it, and I'm like, wait a second. Is this person on your team? and they're like, no, they invested a little bit. And it's like there's so many people out there that're trying to puff themselves up and make themselves look bigger than they are. But it is true in real estate. Like if you get your license or you just start doing deals in this industry. You're gonna walk into some stuff that you have no idea what you're doing, but if you just go and find the people that can help you do it, you can put together a big deal. Mm-hmm. And make some good money on it. Yeah. Yeah. And you're gonna be mind blown on how you even ended up there. Yeah. You're literally gonna do a, a post analysis and be like, how on earth did I end up at the end of this deal? Yeah. And every single time for me, when something like that happens, I look back at all the different connections that lined up and came together to create that. Mm-hmm. You know, oh, I happened to get the referral from this person on this thing. You know, I happened to find this person that I hadn't met before because I had this problem. And then like, when you start doing it too, you run into a problem and you know you're invested in this deal, so you're gonna find the solution to it, right? Mm-hmm. Lender falls through. Call this guy, you know, he's my lender. Mm-hmm. Call Haydynn'cause he may be able to help save the day on this. And you know, they call me and I might be able to save the day. Right. Yeah. Very cool. Never dull. Well, now is a perfect time to add in the sponsor of this show, which I forget to do all the time. But let's go ahead and roll. The sponsor of this episode are connected. Oh, hey there. It's me again. I know you expected Morgan Freeman to come on and talk about the biggest company in the world. Well, I'm sorry, but you get the next best thing. This show is sponsored by the company that I co founded, Acadia Capital, and 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. Alright, welcome back to the show. So Lydia, say yes. Yes. What is your favorite part about what you do? Favorite part. It's the people. I mean, I'm, I'm not even saying that just'cause this is the Art of Connecting podcast. I literally made a post about this last week. That's what clicks and like why I am still doing it. I mean, to be fair, I'm three years in, but I don't ever see myself leaving ever because it seriously does just breed a different kind of person in this industry. Like you can step anywhere outside of business if you're going corporate, healthcare, whatever it is. And. It's just, it, it, I mean, this industry really like rewires your brain. Mm. I mean, if you're on a commission structure, you're constantly meeting new people. Your conversational skills are top tier. It, this industry matures you as a person. Yeah. And makes you a gray hair, like really early. Seriously. Like, it's, it's scary. I mean, I feel like I'm like 27 and a 21-year-old. I feel like I'm 35 and, but I love it. Yeah. Yeah, like I would have it no other way. And it's, it's all a God thing too. Like I, I don't even know how I ended up in this situation, but I, yeah. I mean, there's no reason for me to do anything else. Like, it's just, it's, you can make the industry what you want. You can take real estate at a hundred different angles, and I have yet to meet a pessimistic person or. A a per bad person that I shouldn't have met or Yeah. Yeah. I've met some people that I'm like, I'm never gonna talk to those people again. For sure. But that's so far and few between. Yes. Like that's, there are people in the real estate industry, like I said, the talkers. And when you hear the talkers start talking, you just gotta be like, Uhhuh, uhhuh, Uhhuh. Oh, I'm busy. I gotta go and work and actually accomplish things. But other than that, I think like the people in the real estate industry are just fantastic. Like, you know, everyone is, like you said, they're very collaborative, at least in southeast Tennessee where we are. I've heard in other markets it's a bloodbath. Yeah. You know, and people fight to the day and talk crap about each other. But you know, here you always have your people that are southern culture real estate. Yeah. Southern culture, real estate. Yeah. You always have your people that like. Are out to just talk bad about people and stuff like that. That's so few and far between in this industry, and most people just want to see you succeed. Yeah. And want to get the deal done. Yeah. More than anything. Yeah. You're a creator and a collaborator. I mean, you're literally creating your business out of nothing. Yeah. Starting from people you know, or what you think would be a good idea. So what are you most excited about right now? Most excited about? I am now in a position to mentor agents under me and I was already doing that before there was any incentive to just'cause, I mean, like I said, I genuinely just care and want to share knowledge and make other people's issues easier if I can. But the goal is to bring 10 agents under me this year, which I think is gonna be done very quickly'cause I'm already talking to like 16 or 17, but. I just love that, that I have an opportunity to, to not only be incentivized, but like have a structure to fast track people doing what they want to do. And real estate and business is a huge world of confusion when you step into it. I mean, like I said, you could take it from a hundred different angles and there's a hundred different perspectives on how you should do things, and. I feel like I have a very different perspective being young in the business, and I'm very grateful for what I've been able to do so far. I have a lot I am working on, but that's what I'm really, really excited about. Yeah. Hmm. I just had like a little flashback to the mansion party in Chattanooga. Oh my gosh, that was so much fun. That was so fun. I was actually looking at those pictures the other day. Yeah. Chado needs to host an Why were you thinking about that? I, I have, I'm reading this book called a DH, ADHD is Awesome and I think I have it. So I was thinking about random things that just flash into my head and just like, just what I was thinking about. I actually did have a point to it and it's like. In real estate, you were saying, you said, I don't know where I'm gonna go. And then that's when my head went to, like, us at the house, you know, in a, what was it, three,$4 million home, 3.7 or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. You've got a better math memory than I do. But yeah, you never know where you're gonna go. And I, I've had so many experiences like that, I've ended up in some of the craziest, coolest places, like mm-hmm. Like, I don't think about it at the time, but when I get back home I'm like, holy crap. Like I was just on a freaking 90 foot yacht. Yeah. With like 70 other entrepreneurs. Like, and you're like, how? Who? Who gets to do that? Who let me do that? Yeah. Or like, I just met the owner of this house that owns this massive business and we just got to go and. You know, NAS and drink some wine at his freaking$4 million mansion. Patrick Propell. I, I have his art hanging in my bathroom. Oh, you bought some of his art? Yep. That's incredible. You, and then like we, we need to have more events like that. Yeah, I know. Well, it's not every day that, that yeah, we've got a$4 million house for sale in chat. But you know, you never know what opportunity is gonna come about when you're in real estate. And the cool, I think the coolest part is that you get more free. Excuse me. You get more free time than a lot of other people and you, you know, I don't, I wouldn't actually, I wouldn't even call it free time. Mm-hmm. It's just you get more choice on your time. Yes. That's what I was gonna say. And so you can either spend it working or you can spend it like going and not working, or you can do a little bit of both and go have some fun while you're working. Right. Yeah. Which I call networking. Right. But there were probably plenty of people that night that saw the party. Maybe they even RSVP for it and they're like, oh, I've got too much busy work to do. I'm not gonna go to that party. And like we both, I, I made a really amazing connection with the big crypto guy there that I got to see in person for the first time at that party. Mm-hmm. And like, what's the chance that I would've been able to have the 30 minutes I've been talking with that guy. It's pretty low. Mm-hmm. Another time. So. Yeah, you get to have these really cool experiences if you take advantage of them in real estate. That's where I was going with that. Yeah. That long-winded like ramble that I had for like 10 minutes to talk about that. There's, there's nothing else that fires me up more than that. Like I, I'm now, I've never really been in an event. I feel like I've actually told you before, like I would be a terrible event planner, but now I'm like doing it'cause I have this 25 and under event and it's actually gone extremely well. I'm trying to. I've caught myself a few times being like, oh, I, I don't have an eye for that. Like I, I'm not good at that. Yeah. Like design like Carolyn does, or, oh yeah. You don't need to, you just hire Carolyn. Do your design or I, right. But I don't think that we should say stuff like that, you know, like, I'm not a good event planner. I'm not a good designer. Which, yes, it's not my strong suit. But you haven't done it before. I haven't really done it. Yeah. Yeah. Why would you be good at anything you haven't done? Exactly. You know, why would I go and be a pro golfer? On my first swing. Yeah. I'm not a good pro golfer. Duh. I'm not, I'm not a golf pro. No. Shit. Sherlock, I'm not on the masters. Yeah. Anyways, where I was going with that was we just got this killer video back from this event we hosted eight days ago. And just the feedback that I got from people that are, and it was not an insane event. Like we were not hosting a$4 million mansion party. It was. 14, 15 agents at a wine bar doing like a quarter review and just the feedback from people that are like, I cannot thank you enough for the people I met here. Like, I'm so glad. Like I was nervous about coming and then I came and it was just ama, like everyone was so welcoming and I just learned so much and that. Is so like literally everything could be going wrong in my business, but if I have people like that or I'm, I have a purpose to like bring people together or host events or be able to provide clarity and advice to somebody that's struggling with something, their business and my business could be anywhere. And that's what, like, I'm still fired up about it. Yeah. Yeah. Hosting your own events is such a cheat code to the art of connecting. It's awesome. Like it's, it's not that hard. Yeah, first off, yeah, it really isn't like you don't have to be a genius to put together a good event, just do what other people have done. And like in putting together my event, I shamelessly ripped off Richard Gamble and Jason McDaniel, and I asked them before I did it, they were okay with me shamelessly ripping them off and they were fine with it. So I did it, you know, and it's been incredible. You know, we have about 80 to a hundred people that come out every single month and. I, same for me. Every time someone comes to me and says, Haydynn, I pulled something outta your meetup that changed my business. Yeah. Or, I'm so thankful that you do those events. It gives me a chance to meet the best people. Or when people tell me, and, and this is like not an ego, I try to make it not an ego thing, but it's like, and they're like, you have the best real estate meetup I've ever been to. Yeah. That's like, holy crap. Like, and you did that. Yeah. Like what? What are you talking about? Like, these are people that have been to a lot of real estate meetups. Right. And, and they're like, and then I, I don't like when they're like, yeah, I went to this other meetup. It was total trash, but yours is way better. I'm like, let's not trash my friends. But like you know, it's really, really gratifying. And even if your event sucks, like just doing it like you learn so much. Mm-hmm. And if you're willing to be the person to ask what you can improve on. You can take an event that has 10 people and sucks the first time around and turn it into an event with 70, 80, a hundred people by asking for feedback and improving. Yeah. Well, we are already at the time for me to ask the last question of the episode, and that is, what is a connection to a person or group of people that changed the trajectory of your life or business? Hmm. A person or a group of people? Yeah, it could be either. Hmm. Some people say a person and some people say a group of people. I'm gonna have to think about that one for a second. I feel like I have mentors all over the place in, in different capacities. That's like just a conglomeration Yeah. Of so many people. But let me give you a good answer. Okay. It doesn't have to be one person. Like I said, it could just be a group. And here I think about like what really changed the trajectory. Like I was on a certain track and then this event happened, or I met this person and it completely upended the direction that I was going. Mm-hmm. I would say honestly. Yeah, probably that first broker that I went to that event at, I've never, he's never made any money off of me. We never have worked directly together, but like from the beg, I mean, he was my first perspective of like what it is like to be a broker in real estate and is just like the sweetest, I mean like my, he's like my grandpa basically. Like we no expectations, but like we still meet for coffee like once a month and he just. Poured so much into me and had such a high expectation of me and like really, I mean, as cheesy as it sounds like, made me like believe in myself that it was like this. Like I, okay, I could do this. And was just so excited to like welcome me into the business. And of course as you get licensed and you have. You, you know, rack years of experience and stuff. You're gonna have different perspectives from people and learn what works and what doesn't and what you like. And people run their business completely different ways. But having people from the beginning that I tell you, like, you're gonna figure it out. You're like, I can see that you are. And I know that it's very confusing right now, and it feels like a whole. World of trying to figure out what works in real estate, but you're, I know you're gonna be great. Now I see how much that impacted me and I'm trying to be that person for other people. Hmm. Like meeting with an agent that's, oh, this is so hard. Like I have a client but I have no idea what to do and blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, you're gonna figure it out. It's gonna be okay. Like, I know you're gonna be great at it. I can see five, 10 years in the future. Like, you're gonna be awesome and you can. Yeah. I mean, you can tell pretty quick if someone's gonna make it or not in real estate. Just, I mean, you can have the personality for it before you even have any of the info. Mm. But having people that are willing to like give you a hand up and be like, you're gonna figure it out. If you can't, I'm gonna help you figure it out. That's, that was a really pivotal thing. Yeah. So I wanna be that pivot in other people's business. Right. Hmm. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on this show today. Of course. This was so fun. It was fun. Yeah. Podcasting is so much fun. I love, it's like a little, I don't make anything on this. I actually spend like, I probably spend like 80 bucks a month just to have the podcast. Yeah, probably more than that. But like it's so much fun to get to hear people's stories and to share it with the world.'cause maybe one day, like there could be 12 people that listen to this. And if one person listens to it and it changes their life, it's all worth it. Yeah. Right. So on that note, if you're listening to the show, you're still listening. First off, thank you for being here and listening to the show. Second off, please share it with a friend because you never know whose life you can change by sharing information like what we talk about on the show. And it also helps with podcast grow. And last thing, if you haven't already, please leave us a five star rating or review on Spotify or Apple Podcast wherever you're listening to. Thanks for listening to our Connecting podcast. We'll catch you on the next episode.