Challenging Modern Norms & Building Wealth: Nick Huber on Controversial Opinions, Real Estate, and Health Optimization

0:01 Speaker 0: Nick Huber joins us today on the show. Speaker 0: This is the second time that Nick has been on, and, Speaker 0: I had a lot of fun with this episode. Speaker 0: It's very different from our typical episodes. Speaker 0: Nick is a real estate, entrepreneur, investor, etcetera. Speaker 0: He runs several three main businesses that are all Speaker 0: multi multimillion dollar businesses. Speaker 0: He started his first business called Storage Squad in two thousand eleven, Speaker 0: And now he runs, three different businesses, like I said, Bolt Speaker 0: Storage, somewhere dot com, and RE Cost Seg. Speaker 0: We don't get into the weeds a ton on those three businesses, but he's Speaker 0: absolutely qualified to talk about real estate and business.

0:47 Speaker 0: Nick has a a large following on Twitter or x, and that's relevant because Speaker 0: we spend most of the episode actually talking about Speaker 0: some of the controversial opinions that Nick has. Speaker 0: He put out a tweet recently or a post on x, Speaker 0: listing I think it was twenty five controversial opinions that he thinks Speaker 0: will become, universally accepted in the next twenty five years, something Speaker 0: like that. Speaker 0: So we go through a lot of these controversial topics, which is really Speaker 0: and I and I tried to challenge him on on some of them for Speaker 0: sure. Speaker 0: Really interesting stuff. Speaker 0: We do talk about some of the adversity that Nick has faced. Speaker 0: We talk about a couple of these stories that you'll find in his upcoming Speaker 0: book, Speaker 0: and what the takeaway is for the the real estate entrepreneur, the real estate Speaker 0: investor.

1:37 Speaker 0: But just to give you a quick snapshot, a couple of the controversial things Speaker 0: we talk about that the opinions that Nick holds. Speaker 0: One is that video games are terribly addictive and are ruining kids' lives. Speaker 0: Another is, we talk a lot about routine blood work and hormone optimization Speaker 0: and how that would keep forty year old men from looking like blobs and Speaker 0: forty year old women, Speaker 0: keep them sexually active with their husbands. Speaker 0: Several other very controversial topics we dive into. Speaker 0: We talk about Speaker 0: power lifting and long distance running and heart a lot about heart disease Speaker 0: and and also AI AI and crypto and and Nick's takes on Speaker 0: those, Nick's take on those two topics.

2:21 Speaker 0: There's so much packed into this one. Speaker 0: We don't it's not your typical episode of focusing on one on one particular, Speaker 0: moment of adversity or Nick's story. Speaker 0: We talked in the first episode, Speaker 0: a couple years ago about more about Nick's story. Speaker 0: This one is is really fun, very controversial, and I Speaker 0: think you're gonna love it. Speaker 1: From adversity to abundance, hosted by entrepreneur and Speaker 1: seasoned real estate investor, Jamie Bateman, is the ultimate guide Speaker 1: for active and passive investors seeking clarity, mental fitness, Speaker 1: and the confidence to make inspired decisions in the world of real estate. Speaker 1: With a decade plus of investing experience across various niches and Speaker 1: a background as a combat veteran, former army officer, and multimillion Speaker 1: dollar mortgage note company owner, Jamie brings a wealth of knowledge and Speaker 1: inspiring stories to each episode.

3:14 Speaker 1: Through weekly episodes featuring insightful interviews with industry leaders Speaker 1: and solo explorations of mindset and strategy, listeners Speaker 1: will uncover actionable advice and tips to overcome challenges Speaker 1: and build lasting financial success. Speaker 1: Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting, from adversity Speaker 1: to abundance is your road map to turning obstacles into opportunities Speaker 1: and achieving financial freedom. Speaker 0: Welcome, everybody, to another episode of the from adversity to abundance podcast. Speaker 0: I am your host, Jamie Bateman, and I'm pumped today to have with us Speaker 0: Nick Huber. Speaker 0: Nick Nick is a second time guest on the show.

3:54 Speaker 0: Nick, how are you doing today? Speaker 2: Jamie, thanks for having me. Speaker 2: Love the show. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: Thank you. Speaker 2: This Speaker 0: is gonna be fun. Speaker 0: I know you got a lot going on. Speaker 0: We've got, there's so many I could have you on ten more times, and Speaker 0: we would barely scratch the surface. Speaker 0: So, for the listener who may be unfamiliar with you, Nick, who are you, Speaker 0: and what are you up to today? Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: I live in Athens, Georgia. Speaker 2: I own three main businesses. Speaker 2: I came up, you know, two thousand eleven, started a moving and storage moving Speaker 2: and storage company for students. Speaker 2: Sold that in two thousand twenty, and, Bolt Storage is kinda my main business. Speaker 2: We own and operate self storage facilities. Speaker 2: I acquired majority interest of somewhere dot com about a year ago, and, Speaker 2: I own a real estate, tax service business called RE CosSec Speaker 2: that's growing really fast.

4:39 Speaker 2: So, yeah, I'm an entrepreneur, have have a couple kids, and just trying Speaker 2: to live a good life, man. Speaker 2: It's not always easy. Speaker 2: This, this world throws some stuff at you. Speaker 0: For sure. Speaker 0: I've been following you on, on Twitter or x now, Speaker 0: for quite some time as a lot of people do. Speaker 0: I think almost four hundred thousand people do. Speaker 0: And, Speaker 0: you know, it's just been an impressive journey to follow for sure. Speaker 0: I know there's a lot of ups and downs. Speaker 0: It's not it's not all, you know, straight line to success for sure. Speaker 0: But I I guess recently, somewhere dot com last year, right, was your your Speaker 0: big purchase. Speaker 0: Is that right? Speaker 2: Yep. Speaker 2: I, look. Speaker 2: I'm just I'm just really passionate about business models that work, and I think Speaker 2: almost everybody should look the other way from venture capital, new idea, Speaker 2: innovation, and, do things that work, man.

5:27 Speaker 2: Like, my storage company is just a good business. Speaker 2: Somewhere dot com is a good business, and are you constantly good businesses? Speaker 2: But, yeah, I the biggest deal I've done recently is Mhmm. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: I raised twenty million dollars from outside investors, borrowed nine point three million Speaker 2: from the seller to buy majority interest in, somewhere dot com, which Speaker 2: is a international recruiting company that finds South African, Egyptian, Speaker 2: Latin American, Filipino employees for US based businesses. Speaker 0: Nice. Speaker 0: And I know some of the, you you take a lot of heat for Speaker 0: different things, especially on Twitter, like I said. Speaker 0: But speaking of Twitter, you put out a tweet the other day that I Speaker 0: noticed, and, Speaker 0: it's all about your your personal opinions that may be Speaker 0: controversial, Speaker 0: and that you think will be universally accepted in twenty years from now.

6:16 Speaker 0: And we're we're recording this in twenty twenty five, so we'll have to have Speaker 0: you back on in twenty years. Speaker 0: Let's do it. Speaker 2: Hopefully hopefully, some of these things are accepted a little earlier than that. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: Let's hope. Speaker 0: Right? Speaker 0: Let's run through a couple of these and talk about them. Speaker 0: We're gonna make this show a little different than your tip my typical episode Speaker 0: for the show. Speaker 0: I mean, Speaker 2: the show notes. Speaker 2: We'll put in the show notes this exact tweet so people can kinda pull Speaker 2: it up That's great. Speaker 2: And look at the discussions because because the you know, my opinion is one Speaker 2: thing, but I also change my mind pretty often. Speaker 2: And a lot of people commented some very interesting things on here, and it's Speaker 2: it's a great discussion. Speaker 2: So Yeah. Speaker 2: Let's do it, man. Speaker 0: I remember last on the the first episode, which we'll link also link to Speaker 0: in the show notes, you did mention that you like to change your mind Speaker 0: often. Speaker 0: And, you know, Speaker 2: we we last spoke, and it was twenty twenty two.

6:58 Speaker 2: We did the last one. Speaker 2: Right? Speaker 2: Twenty twenty twenty two. Speaker 2: I think I think I've changed my mind on a ton since then, and Speaker 2: a lot of it's on this list. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 0: That's hilarious. Speaker 0: That is a that's an important skill for sure. Speaker 0: I I know, I've gotten better at that and not always great at that Speaker 0: myself. Speaker 0: But alright. Speaker 0: Number one, you think video games are horrifically addictive and ruining Speaker 0: kids' lives. Speaker 0: Why do you say that? Speaker 2: I see it in real time in my friends who have kids, whether they're, Speaker 2: you know, eight year olds or sixteen year olds. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: They are showing they're showing every sign of, like, severe addiction, Speaker 2: and the parents are in denial. Speaker 2: They are constantly constantly asking their friends Speaker 2: for more screen time or their parents for more screen time.

7:39 Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: They are spending entirely too much time on video games, Speaker 2: and that leads to them then being more likely to go to Speaker 2: college and play video games the whole time they're there instead of studying, playing Speaker 2: sports, meeting meeting women, doing whatever it is. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 2: But, like, it's highly correlated to living in your parents' Speaker 2: basement at thirty years old. Speaker 2: Like, I'm I'm sorry. Speaker 2: It's it's super addictive. Speaker 2: It's very bad for kids. Speaker 2: It's it's, Speaker 2: it's terrible. Speaker 2: So Yeah. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: If you wanna end up, you know, thirty five overweight and casting spells Speaker 2: in your bedroom at three AM, then Speaker 2: let let your let your kids flip. Speaker 2: So, yeah, I'm doing I'm taking the opposite approach of this, and I'm literally Speaker 2: not allowing I'm not allowing video games in my house.

8:25 Speaker 2: Wow. Speaker 2: So if my kid comes to me wanting to play Minecraft or Fortnite or Speaker 2: any of this stuff Right. Speaker 2: The answer is no because it is way too addictive. Speaker 2: And, look, like, some the argument against this is that it builds community and Speaker 2: parents even play with kids. Speaker 0: That's what I was gonna say. Speaker 0: I was gonna challenge you just in that on that point. Speaker 0: It is it's like that's how I know my son likes Minecraft. Speaker 0: He connects with other other people that way, and and I'm not I'm I'm Speaker 0: intentionally trying to to go against you here. Speaker 0: But, you know, so I do agree it is addictive for sure. Speaker 0: But what about the argument that it it is it it is a social, Speaker 0: you know, network in and of itself where people can connect? Speaker 0: What about during COVID when you couldn't go outside?

9:06 Speaker 0: You know, we got my daughter a phone during COVID because she wouldn't have Speaker 0: any friends to communicate with otherwise. Speaker 0: So, whether or not that was a good move, I don't know. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: But, what do you say about that? Speaker 2: I mean, there are a lot of peep there are a lot of people Speaker 2: who play video games that end up being high performing people. Speaker 2: Like, this is not this is this is not a blanket deal. Speaker 2: A lot of the tech a lot of people in my tech community say, Speaker 2: like, hey. Speaker 2: The highest performers in tech and the software engineers almost all played video games Speaker 2: and solve those problems. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: So I'm speaking out of both sides of my mouth here, but I just Speaker 2: think the risks far outweigh the benefit. Speaker 2: And it's not true connection. Speaker 2: Like, let's be real. Speaker 2: When you're on Speaker 0: That's true. Speaker 2: A video game playing Call of Duty in trash talking a stranger about blowing Speaker 2: their head off or Right.

9:49 Speaker 2: Start chirping at your friends during Minecraft Right. Speaker 2: It's not real community. Speaker 2: They're not in your house. Speaker 2: You're not building deeper connections. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: You are you are literally trash talking behind a little, you know, ten digit, Speaker 2: screen name or whatever they call it. Speaker 2: So Right. Speaker 2: I don't buy that argument. Speaker 2: I think there are hundreds of ways that are better for kids to socialize Speaker 2: and get involvement with people. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: And I just I I think that some kids can do it with balance. Speaker 2: And if your kid can do it with balance, it's fine. Speaker 2: But if your kid is showing severe signs of addiction and you're in denial, Speaker 2: then it's time to wake up and Speaker 0: make some changes. Speaker 0: Makes sense. Speaker 0: I'm gonna skip a couple of these. Speaker 0: Next one up Speaker 2: We bet we definitely need to skip number two.

10:29 Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 0: Exactly. Speaker 0: We may not even get this you know, we may be flagged on social Speaker 0: media if we Speaker 0: I have had episodes flagged for talking about, vaccines, by the way. Speaker 0: But, you know Let's Speaker 2: get less and less of that now that the owner of, some social media Speaker 2: The Speaker 0: risk is lower. Speaker 0: That's true. Speaker 2: Be able to say what they wanna say. Speaker 2: And with some vaccine some vaccines are good and important, but Yeah. Speaker 2: It a lot of them make absolutely no sense to me personally. Speaker 2: So why are we jabbing why are we jabbing a three hour old baby Speaker 2: with a hepatitis b vaccine when the only way to get hepatitis b is Speaker 2: intravenous drug use or being a prostitute on the street? Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: The argument for that vaccine is that the mother could have hepatitis Speaker 2: b.

11:15 Speaker 2: Do we know how people get hepatitis b, and why in the world are Speaker 2: we putting aluminum that goes straight to the brain in our in our new Speaker 2: base for that? Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: It's all I'll say there. Speaker 0: No. Speaker 0: And and I'll just chime in in in that. Speaker 0: My issue is that you can't even it it's like it's it's almost like Speaker 0: you're not allowed to question it. Speaker 0: You know what I mean? Speaker 0: It's it's not necessarily that like, you you didn't say all vaccines are are Speaker 0: wrong or Yeah. Speaker 0: But it's like Speaker 2: literally have saved millions and millions of people. Speaker 0: Absolutely. Speaker 0: But we're not allowed to have a a critical thought about it. Speaker 0: You know? Speaker 0: That it it feels that way to me. Speaker 0: But, so I I wanted to disagree with you on that one, Speaker 0: but it's I can't. Speaker 0: So let's skip down. Speaker 0: So routine blood work and hormone optimization would keep all these Speaker 0: forty year old men from looking like blobs and forty year old women Speaker 0: sexually active with their husbands.

12:03 Speaker 0: What do you mean by that? Speaker 2: When you go to the PCP, your primary care physician, and you say, Speaker 2: hey, doc. Speaker 2: I would like to know what my testosterone is, and I would like to Speaker 2: know a little bit more about where my estrogen levels are, and I'd like Speaker 2: to know a little bit more about, you know, cancer markers or vitamin d Speaker 2: levels or cortisol levels or some deeper markers on heart health. Speaker 2: We can go to the one on heart health because I'm really passionate about Speaker 2: that. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: The piece the PCP, more likely than not, will argue with you and Speaker 2: tell you that he does not agree with checking it and you're not showing Speaker 2: any signs of issues. Speaker 2: He'll ask you if you have erectile dysfunction. Speaker 2: And if the answer is no, he'll he'll dismiss what you're trying to ask Speaker 2: him to do.

12:44 Speaker 2: And it's just toe it's total BS. Speaker 2: It's total BS. Speaker 2: It's not healthy. Speaker 2: It's not healthy to walk around at two and three hundred testosterone levels. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: It's bad it's bad for you. Speaker 2: So Right. Speaker 2: These these PCPs are I made a I made a tweet, a very precise Speaker 2: tweet about that about two weeks ago. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 2: A doctor in the replies, who's actually a friend of mine Speaker 0: Uh-huh. Speaker 2: Started saying talking about how, you know, biannual or quarterly blood work is Speaker 2: way too often. Speaker 2: Like, you shouldn't be doing it. Speaker 2: There's no reason to know this stuff. Speaker 2: And unless you're finding symptoms, it's it's more worry than it's worth. Speaker 2: And I got in the DM. Speaker 2: I was like, okay. Speaker 2: What's your testosterone? Speaker 2: What's your lipid panel look like? Speaker 2: Where are your cortisol levels? Speaker 2: Where is your vitamin d? Speaker 2: Do you know what he told me? Speaker 2: You know what he told me?

13:24 Speaker 2: He didn't know. Speaker 2: He hadn't had blood work in five years. Speaker 0: Wow. Speaker 0: That's incredible. Speaker 0: That is that's unreal. Speaker 0: Seriously. Speaker 2: It's it's negligent. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 0: Sure. Speaker 2: So these these doctors are upsetting me Speaker 2: slightly in in in this topic. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: I mean, I and, again, so I've been working with a a functional Speaker 0: medicine, nurse practitioner in this case, because in Maryland, it's not Speaker 0: it's not that big of a difference, really. Speaker 0: You don't necessarily need a doctor for prescriptions. Speaker 0: But, yeah, I mean, I've learned so much. Speaker 0: I mean and and I do I will say people need to be careful Speaker 0: in that world as well because there are people who are gonna take advantage Speaker 0: of you and, you know, you always have to be careful and ask critical Speaker 0: questions.

14:12 Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Speaker 2: My buddy got put on TRT Speaker 2: without without the doctor telling him that he if you're on TRT for a Speaker 2: long time, you're not gonna be able to have any more kids because your Speaker 2: sperm count's gonna go to virtually not virtually zero. Speaker 2: So, yes, there is a ton of bad actors in the in the space. Speaker 2: And I'm not talking about, like, I'm not talking about TRT. Speaker 2: I'm not on TRT. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: I'm talking about just knowing where you are. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: Information. Speaker 2: And tracking tracking heart health very closely, your stress levels, your vitamin d, these Speaker 2: things these other things that are super important. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 0: Well and I and I've heard, different podcasts about this, and and the the Speaker 0: truth is the insurance companies most people change their insurance company, Speaker 0: their health insure insurance provider every I think it's, like, five years or maybe Speaker 0: even more frequently than that now.

14:53 Speaker 0: And so Nick Huber's problem in twenty five years from Speaker 0: now is not his current health insurance provider's problem. Speaker 0: Right? Speaker 0: So it's much more beneficial in their mind to pass you Speaker 0: on your problem on to somebody else. Speaker 0: So they're not proactive. Speaker 0: So that so these tests you're talking about, for the most part, are not Speaker 0: covered by insurance. Speaker 0: Right? Speaker 0: So, and so the doctors and, you know, most of the doctors Speaker 0: in in the traditional medicine field are good people, I will say. Speaker 0: Right? Speaker 0: But it's the system, and they're they're not incentivized to Speaker 2: And, frankly, they don't have time. Speaker 2: They don't have time. Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker 2: They have fifth they're fifteen minutes back to back their entire career. Speaker 2: Being a primary care physician is the worst job in the world to have.

15:35 Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Like, it's brutal. Speaker 2: It's brutal on you. Speaker 2: It's brutal on your family. Speaker 2: Your clients are texting you on weekends. Speaker 2: You're back to back to back to back, and you don't actually have time Speaker 2: to help anybody. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: Preventative. Speaker 2: Preventative. Speaker 2: So, I've gotten super serious about longevity. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: I went to do a full body workup in Colorado. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: I have a functional health doctor and a longevity doctor who is Speaker 2: phenomenal. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: And, and it's just a it's so different than the Speaker 2: way normal doctors are trained that it's Yeah. Speaker 2: It's kinda it's kinda sad. Speaker 0: So what about the the forty year old women being sexually active? Speaker 0: Let's let's drill down a Speaker 2: little bit. Speaker 2: People people don't understand that, like, your hormones being Speaker 2: out of whack will mess up everything.

16:19 Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: So, like, if your wife doesn't wanna have sex with you at forty years Speaker 2: old Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: That's not that's not acceptable. Speaker 2: It's not acceptable. Speaker 2: Like, of course, it I'm not that that came off a little bad, like, Speaker 2: not not not acceptable. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: We you have to treat your wife like like a lady. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: But but still, like, hormone hormones being out of whack will Speaker 2: ruin people. Speaker 0: No. Speaker 0: And they Speaker 2: and and And they walk around not even knowing it. Speaker 0: I'll I'll you know, physical intimacy, not not that we're gonna spend too much Speaker 0: time on this, but it's it's absolutely critical for a romantic relationship. Speaker 0: I mean, it really is the defining factor of a of, in my opinion, Speaker 0: of a of a marriage or romantic relationship versus a friendship Speaker 0: or some other, you know, coworker Speaker 0: relationship, whatever.

17:03 Speaker 0: I mean, it is it. Speaker 0: So if that's missing, Speaker 0: it's not a marriage. Speaker 0: It's not a long term relationship. Speaker 0: It's not it's not a thriving one anyway. Speaker 0: So and you're absolutely right. Speaker 0: I think the physiological factors are are huge. Speaker 0: So So when I I I Speaker 2: was talking to a friend who we were comparing DEXA scans. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 0: A Speaker 2: DEXA scan literally tells you how much muscle mass you have and how much Speaker 2: fat you have on your on your body and where your bone density is. Speaker 2: He's six inches shorter than me. Speaker 2: K. Speaker 2: And he's he's got forty pounds of extra fat on his body than I Speaker 2: have on my body. Speaker 2: Wow. Speaker 2: Wow. Speaker 2: And he tries hard, man. Speaker 2: He works Speaker 0: that way. Speaker 2: So maybe maybe he's actually about only about three inches shorter. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 2: We were having a conversation, and I'm like, he's very against he doesn't know Speaker 2: where his hormones are.

17:46 Speaker 2: He doesn't know where his testosterone is. Speaker 2: He is very against GLP ones and, Speaker 0: you Speaker 2: know, Ozempic and these Right. Speaker 2: Peptides. Speaker 2: Yep. Speaker 2: And I was having a conversation with him. Speaker 2: I'm like, dude, what are you afraid of with this stuff? Speaker 2: Like, what's the fear? Speaker 2: And he's like, I just think that there's long term side effects. Speaker 2: I was like, you don't think there's long term side effects of you carrying Speaker 2: around? Speaker 2: Like, I'm your friend. Speaker 0: I'm gonna Speaker 2: tell you something you might not wanna hear. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: Don't think there's long term side effects of you carrying around an extra forty Speaker 2: pounds of fat. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 0: It's a great point. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 2: Like, if you do it Everything in life has positives and negatives. Speaker 0: And doing things like this. Speaker 2: If I was carrying around forty pounds while I was trying, a, my testosterone's Speaker 2: probably two hundred, and b, I would sure as hell get on Ozempic Speaker 2: to, like, get my shit together.

18:31 Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: For sure. Speaker 0: And it and it it's yeah. Speaker 0: It all plays into, like you know, people talk a lot about time management, Speaker 0: and, I mean, that's I do think important, but I think energy management is Speaker 0: is really important as well. Speaker 0: And if you're running low energy every day because your testosterone levels are low, Speaker 0: you're not running your real estate business very well or whatever you're you're working Speaker 0: on. Speaker 0: You're not gonna be you're not gonna show up as the best version of Speaker 0: yourself as a father, husband, etcetera. Speaker 0: Yep. Speaker 0: So yeah. Speaker 0: I I I agree on that one for sure. Speaker 0: Let's skip down. Speaker 0: Large vehicles are ten times safer than small vehicles. Speaker 0: Don't put your wife or sixteen year old in a sedan. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: I feel I feel super, super passionate about this, and it and it angers Speaker 2: Twitter every time I talk about how Tesla a Tesla is not as safe Speaker 2: as my f one fifty.

19:16 Speaker 2: Here's here's the bottom line is that every crash test Speaker 2: compares, a, it compares other vehicles in the same class, same size. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: And they're all single car accidents of a car hitting an object. Speaker 2: Those are every single crash crash Speaker 2: test. Speaker 2: I don't drive crazy. Speaker 2: I'm not worried about a single car accident. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: What I'm worried about is somebody texting and blowing a red light and slamming Speaker 2: into my driver's side door or my back passenger door where my kid is Speaker 2: sitting. Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker 2: That's that's my fear, period. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: If I'm sitting in a Tesla and my and my chin is Speaker 2: four and a half feet off the ground, Speaker 2: I'm getting the grill.

19:57 Speaker 2: I'm getting the grill of that f one fifty that that teenager Speaker 2: is driving right in my chin. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: And we're talking physics here, man. Speaker 2: Like, we're talking physics. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: So peep people will put their families, people high earners will put their families Speaker 2: in sedans, and they'll put their daughters in sedans. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: And all it takes is one split second of your daughter, your wife, Speaker 2: or you not seeing a vehicle and pulling out at the wrong time Speaker 2: and then driving in a Suburban or driving in a Camry is the difference Speaker 2: between walking away and dying. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: And then there's there's people whose daughters want Jeep Wranglers, and they say yes, Speaker 2: and it just absolutely absolutely it's just delusional Speaker 2: to me because those are the most unsafe vehicles on the road.

20:45 Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: And you're gonna put a sixteen year old girl behind the wheel. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: Well, sounds like you're putting Teslas down for a different reason than other people Speaker 0: are recently. Speaker 2: I love I love I love Teslas. Speaker 2: I love the tech. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: Cyber trucks, if they didn't look quite so obnoxious, I'd probably get one. Speaker 0: They're they're a little extreme. Speaker 0: Let's be honest. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: What about what about the Earth, though, with these huge vehicles? Speaker 0: I mean, aren't you killing the planet? Speaker 2: That's the that is the like, that's a very real Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 0: Not Speaker 2: the not the planet. Speaker 2: I don't care at all about gas mileage. Speaker 2: But this the fear is you put your daughter in a suburban Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 0: And she's gonna run a red light. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: And she is gonna pull out in front of somebody.

21:27 Speaker 2: And so Mhmm. Speaker 2: It's it really is an arms race, and you could also get the call Speaker 2: that your daughter ran a red light and killed three people in a Camry. Speaker 2: And that's Right. Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker 2: So, yeah, it's a it's a mental it's a mental balance, but, unfortunately, we Speaker 2: live in a world where you gotta put your family first. Speaker 0: No. Speaker 0: I that's that's true for sure. Speaker 0: Alright. Speaker 0: Let's skip down. Speaker 0: So plastics are killing us. Speaker 0: Polyester underwear, tea bags, cutting boards, microwavable meals in Speaker 0: plastic. Speaker 0: I know I've seen heard a lot about microplastics. Speaker 0: I guess I'll ask, you know, Speaker 0: what are we supposed to do about that? Speaker 0: Even if that's true, what are we supposed to do about it?

22:09 Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: There's an eighty twenty that's not, like, you can go you can go Brian Speaker 2: Johnson on this stuff, on any of this stuff. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: Go super extreme. Speaker 2: And and you can worry about it, and you can let it impact your Speaker 2: life. Speaker 2: And every time you go to a restaurant, you're gonna bring your own water. Speaker 2: Like Right. Speaker 2: There's that extreme, and then there's the extreme of, like, using something like this Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: To drink water out of instead of a a plastic cup. Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker 2: So fluoride is in our water. Speaker 2: It's really bad for us. Speaker 2: We know that. Speaker 2: They're gonna start taking it out. Speaker 2: Five years, it's gonna be out of the American water supply. Speaker 2: Thank God. Speaker 2: But it's not yet. Speaker 2: And if you're a pregnant lady drinking fluoride, really, really bad for you. Speaker 2: If you're feeding your kids water that has fluoride, really, really bad. Speaker 2: So get a filter for that.

22:49 Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: And then don't eat out of plastic. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: Especially heat up plastic. Speaker 2: So Mhmm. Speaker 2: A a teabag is made out of nylon. Speaker 2: Did you know that? Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 0: I didn't know that. Speaker 0: No. Speaker 2: Go empty out your cabinet now, like, right or right after this call. Speaker 2: But a tea bag is made on nylon. Speaker 2: So Joe Gebbia from Airbnb has spent a ton of time working on this. Speaker 2: I was lucky enough to make friends with him and chat with him a Speaker 2: little bit on it, and he's super passionate about it. Speaker 2: And he basically gave me the eighty twenty. Speaker 2: Like, if you do these things, you're gonna be fine from a plastic perspective. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Never ever ever use tea bags is number one because they're made out of Speaker 2: nylon, and they release over three billion particles of of plastic Speaker 2: into your drink when you dip it in your boiling hot water.

23:30 Speaker 0: I had no clue. Speaker 0: I never I hadn't hadn't heard that one. Speaker 0: That's crazy. Speaker 2: The black plastic stirring spoons for and and spatulas Speaker 2: for cooking. Speaker 2: Absolutely terrible. Speaker 2: Use wood or stainless. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Plastic cutting boards, absolutely terrible. Speaker 2: Meals, like factor meals that come in plastic containers and you put that plastic Speaker 2: in the microwave and heat that plastic are terrible. Speaker 2: Letting a letting a water bottle sit in your hot car and get hot Speaker 2: before you drink out of it is terrible. Speaker 2: You shouldn't actually drink out of those bottles at all because they could be Speaker 2: in the back of a semi truck getting hot and releasing billions of particles Speaker 2: of plastic into into the water bottle. Speaker 2: That said, I was really thirsty at the golf course, and I ordered a Speaker 2: water and drank it out of a water bottle. Speaker 2: Again, it's like Right. Speaker 2: There's an eighty there's an eighty twenty here.

24:12 Speaker 0: Sure. Speaker 2: And then polyester clothes are bad. Speaker 2: It's getting into your skin. Speaker 2: The scrotum is the most, like Speaker 0: Oh, Speaker 2: like succulent. Speaker 2: Absorbent. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: It it's the most absorbent part of the body. Speaker 2: So Right. Speaker 2: A very simple one is to get wool underwear. Speaker 2: I use wooly, w o o l l y Mhmm. Speaker 2: If you sweat and use cotton if you don't sweat. Speaker 2: I like wool. Speaker 2: It's it's more expensive. Speaker 2: It's it lasts less long. Speaker 2: It's thirty five, forty bucks for a pair of underwear, Speaker 2: but it doesn't stink, and it doesn't, you know, stick to you when you Speaker 2: start to sweat. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: But get your kids in cotton underwear. Speaker 2: Buy the milli buy the milli moon diapers that don't have plastic in them Speaker 2: from from Target because it matters.

24:54 Speaker 2: And then the other half of it that you almost have no control over Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Because every time you put polyester in the dryer, billions of particles enter the Speaker 2: air and you breathe it in. Speaker 0: Man. Speaker 0: Wow. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: Well, have you, ever been on a podcast interviewed about and talked about your Speaker 0: underwear before? Speaker 2: No. Speaker 2: It's the first one. Speaker 2: I'm not an expert. Speaker 2: Like, I'm not an expert on any of this. Speaker 2: I'll just tell you that now. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: Like, I've done the eighty twenty on this stuff. Speaker 2: I've listened to a lot of experts. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: I have have learned enough to form my opinion and my strategy. Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker 2: But I've yeah. Speaker 2: But I don't take it too far. Speaker 0: Well and you you are open to changing your mind, like you said. Speaker 0: So, two two real quickly that will kind of, Speaker 0: well, we'll we'll keep them set up. Speaker 2: Nonstick nonstick pans, whether it's a bread maker, a pressure cooker, an actual potter Speaker 2: pan.

25:38 Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker 2: Throw it all don't even give it away. Speaker 2: Throw it all in the garbage now. Speaker 2: It is very, very, very bad for you. Speaker 2: Man. Speaker 2: Use stainless use stainless steel, Speaker 2: pans and pots. Speaker 0: Yep. Speaker 0: Alright. Speaker 0: Two that might, Speaker 0: one here that may relate more to, you know, the real estate investing that Speaker 0: people are are interested in that listen to this show. Speaker 0: AI won't change the world very much. Speaker 2: People are Speaker 0: over overreacting today just like Elon when he Speaker 0: told us we'd have full self driving cars by twenty fourteen. Speaker 0: It's a long way off. Speaker 0: So talk about talk about AI. Speaker 0: I mean, it's I I can tell you chat GPT in the last, like, Speaker 0: four months. Speaker 0: I'm not I'm not an expert, but it's definitely gotten better. Speaker 0: It's, like, significantly just just better.

26:19 Speaker 0: It's more efficient. Speaker 0: It's smarter. Speaker 0: It's it's more practical. Speaker 0: So you're seeing, like, pretty quick increases in the efficiency of the Speaker 0: the growth of of AI, but why won't it change the world very much? Speaker 2: People still live in a house with four walls. Speaker 2: People still need to drive on concrete. Speaker 2: People still are trying to buy food from Walmart. Speaker 2: People are still sending their kids to schools and waking up and putting their Speaker 2: pants on one leg at a time. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Ninety nine point nine percent of people are just trying to make rent Speaker 2: and plan their next vacation. Speaker 0: Right. Speaker 2: Like, I think a lot of VCs and a lot of entrepreneurs should go Speaker 2: to Walmart every quarter Speaker 0: and just Speaker 2: walk around and look at look at the average American.

27:02 Speaker 2: I think they lose touch with what the average American is actually what they're Speaker 2: living like. Speaker 2: Uh-huh. Speaker 2: That said, I'm following AI phenomenally close because Speaker 2: my business depends on it, and I like making profit. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: If I can find a way to reduce the headcount of my three hundred Speaker 2: and twenty five employees Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: That's millions of dollars in my pocket. Speaker 2: So I'm gonna be the very first one to jump for joy when AI Speaker 2: allows me to run a more efficient business and do more work with the Speaker 2: same amount of people. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: That said, I've demoed. Speaker 2: I've I've looked into fifty tools. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: I've demoed Speaker 2: twenty plus tools.

27:45 Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: And I've tried to implement six to eight AI tools Speaker 2: into my business. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Fathom is the only one that's still here. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 0: The rest Speaker 2: of them have the rest of of them have been a utter waste of Speaker 2: time. Speaker 2: So I have a phenomenally open mind about this. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: We actually train we train executive assistants at somewhere before we hand them off Speaker 2: to clients. Speaker 2: A huge chunk and growing chunk of that training is around AI. Speaker 2: How to make graphic designs for real estate packages, how to, you know, Speaker 2: to have better grammar, like, how to look up how to look up things, Speaker 2: like, all the things that can Speaker 0: help somebody to create a prompt for AI.

28:26 Speaker 0: Right? Speaker 2: Prompt writing. Speaker 2: Prompt writing. Speaker 2: It's gonna be a it's gonna be like Google searching. Speaker 2: I agree I agree with it. Speaker 2: Prompt writing is gonna be much like googling. Speaker 2: So you're gonna be able to get smarter. Speaker 2: You're gonna be able to learn faster. Speaker 2: But is it gonna change the way we live our lives? Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: Probably. Speaker 2: The last thing I'll say about it is that I've listened to Elon Musk Speaker 2: on Rogan when he start when he was talking to his AI. Speaker 2: Uh-huh. Speaker 2: I've listened to my friends who were super excited about AI, talk to their Speaker 2: AI things. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: I've called and tried to talk on the phone to a couple AI customer Speaker 2: service reps. Speaker 2: I've listened to Andrew Wilkinson talk to his AI. Speaker 2: I've I've followed it. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: All of it is completely laughable. Speaker 2: It's laughable to think that any self respecting business owner who pays Speaker 2: money for the phone to ring would want that providing a customer Speaker 2: service experience to any of their clients, whether they're just trying to pay an Speaker 2: invoice or they actually wanna pay them money.

29:17 Speaker 2: People are quite delusional, but there's a shock factor that it can do what Speaker 2: it can do. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: But there's no in a way that I'm letting that answer the the phone Speaker 2: for my storage facilities. Speaker 0: Alright. Speaker 0: Last one more that we're gonna talk about here. Speaker 0: Crypto outside of Bitcoin is a total waste of time and electricity. Speaker 0: Why? Speaker 2: It just it's goes back to my my dog is eating a giant piece Speaker 2: of plastic. Speaker 2: One second. Speaker 2: Oh, wow. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 2: So Speaker 2: alright. Speaker 2: Crypto. Speaker 2: It's just another one of those things that has wow factor, has utility, Speaker 2: change the world. Speaker 2: I see it I see it doing almost absolutely nothing for anybody.

29:58 Speaker 2: Never. Speaker 2: I can't think of a use case that it actually solves. Speaker 2: I can't think of any self respecting person who would rather send that than Speaker 2: money. Speaker 2: I know I know twenty people who have gotten robbed blind of almost all Speaker 2: their crypto, so it just doesn't doesn't make any sense to me. Speaker 2: Gotcha. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: No. Speaker 0: I mean, I I threw a little bit of money at it, but but Speaker 0: quite honestly, it's just gambling because I have no idea. Speaker 0: Here we Speaker 2: we've gotta talk a little bit about heart disease because I feel super passionate Speaker 0: about it. Speaker 2: The majority of your audience is probably men. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: True. Speaker 2: So men live an average what is it? Speaker 2: Six years less long than women?

30:39 Speaker 0: About I think I think that's right. Speaker 2: Yep. Speaker 2: The reason the reason why is that we are genetically disposed, and we Speaker 2: have larger bodies, and we are more likely to eat heart disease, period. Speaker 2: It's heart disease. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: And in men in men, heart disease is a ten times killer, ten Speaker 2: x. Speaker 2: It kills ten x as many people as cancer, which is number two. Speaker 2: Did you know that? Speaker 0: No. Speaker 0: I knew that I knew one and two, but I didn't know the the Speaker 0: difference there. Speaker 0: There was that big of a multiple difference. Speaker 2: Yep. Speaker 2: So how how old are you? Speaker 2: I'm forty nine. Speaker 2: Forty nine. Speaker 2: Have you had a heart workout workup where they have imaged imaged the arteries Speaker 2: going up? Speaker 2: Or I just did the calcium scan. Speaker 0: I did the calcium scan.

31:19 Speaker 0: Actually, recently, I've done two of them in the last, say, five years, Speaker 0: but I'm sure there's a more in-depth scan I could get done. Speaker 0: I'm not sure. Speaker 2: No. Speaker 2: It's great. Speaker 2: Like, even just knowing your calcium score and, like, how much how much plaque Speaker 2: is building up in your heart is something that a ton of high income Speaker 2: earners don't know. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: And they don't know what their cholesterol levels and their lipid panels Speaker 2: and other factors that influence heart disease and their blood sugar, insulin levels. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: They don't know those things and how how serious that is because the Speaker 2: odds are you're gonna die of heart disease. Speaker 2: If you don't get hit by a car, the odds are you're gonna die Speaker 2: of heart disease. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: So the fact that nobody tracks it and even heart doctors will say, Speaker 2: oh, you're fine.

32:01 Speaker 2: Come back in ten years when somebody's, like, you know, scores an eight hundred Speaker 2: on the calcium score test, Speaker 2: is is just beyond me. Speaker 2: So Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: So just a practical tip for those listening. Speaker 0: I mean, that's the CT scanner calcium score. Speaker 0: I I I think it's the same thing. Speaker 0: But, Speaker 2: yeah, there's different there's there's, like, a five hundred dollar version where they Okay. Speaker 2: Where they can get a pretty accurate calcium score and get some imaging. Speaker 2: And then there's a two and two to three thousand dollar version where they Speaker 2: where they hook you up to you're in an MRI machine. Speaker 2: They hook you up to some an IV. Speaker 2: They put dye. Speaker 2: They put dye in your body, and it flushes your body. Speaker 2: And they get an they get an image of the blood moving in and Speaker 2: out, and they have wall walls of the arteries.

32:41 Speaker 2: They they have cross sections of it four different ways. Speaker 2: Wow. Speaker 2: And they get a full image of your heart. Speaker 2: There's also a lot of the population that's walking around with heart defects and Speaker 2: don't even know it. Speaker 2: Bad valves, reversed ventricles, like, all these things that are Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: Super, super, super bad for you long term. Speaker 0: Right. Speaker 0: And it's not that hard to get a scan done or that expensive, really, Speaker 0: if we're talking about saving your life. Speaker 0: So, yeah, good point. Speaker 0: Awesome. Speaker 0: I'm sure we'll get some, feedback on some of those opinions. Speaker 0: So you've got a book coming out. Speaker 0: Let's talk about that, and then let's talk about a couple of the, passages Speaker 0: in the book. Speaker 0: Tell us about the the book that you have coming out, Nick. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: So over the last five years well, everybody knows my mission.

33:23 Speaker 2: Like, I'm on a mission to there's two directions to go in entrepreneurship. Speaker 2: There's the Silicon Valley raise money, change the world, new idea, Shark Tank version. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: And then there's the path that everybody gets rich in every town in America, Speaker 2: which is the normal, boring, old fashioned way. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 0: Sure. Speaker 2: So, like, the wealthy people that I know in this world, they fly private Speaker 2: jets. Speaker 2: They own the biggest houses. Speaker 2: They play golf course. Speaker 2: They play golf with the most exclusive clubs. Speaker 2: They do whatever they want. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Ninety nine out of a hundred of them did not have a new idea. Speaker 2: It was built a big surveying business, run underground utilities Speaker 2: for, you know, developers. Speaker 2: You you name it. Speaker 2: Just some kind of business where they scaled it and grew it.

34:04 Speaker 2: So the book is all about that and how to spot opportunities, what skills Speaker 2: you need, how to hire, how to fire, how to delegate, sales, Speaker 2: you know, how to attract people, the skills you need. Speaker 2: And then the last chapter is my opinions on, picking picking the right Speaker 2: career, how to move up at work, like, why family's important, how Speaker 2: to my thoughts on raising kids, stuff like that. Speaker 2: So Mhmm. Speaker 2: It's called the sweaty startup. Speaker 2: It it I don't know when you're listening to this, but it'll come out Speaker 2: on April twenty ninth two thousand twenty five, and I'm really proud Speaker 0: of it. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: I mean, putting a book together is is not an easy task for sure. Speaker 0: Let's talk about there there's a story in the book, that starts on page Speaker 0: thirty one where you were, Speaker 0: around the time that you and your business partner were launching Storage Squad, you Speaker 0: were in the locker room, and you heard somebody talking about your idea.

34:56 Speaker 0: Right? Speaker 0: Tell us about that. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: So Speaker 2: there was zero status in what I was doing when I started my first Speaker 2: company. Speaker 2: I was I was literally sweating my butt off, hauling boxes around, Speaker 2: loading them in the back of a beat up cargo van with rusted out Speaker 2: panels that I bought on Craigslist for fifteen hundred dollars. Speaker 2: I'm at an Ivy League school. Speaker 2: This is junior year where guys are about to go off to do their Speaker 2: internships at Goldman Sachs, at Bain, at, you know, all of these big Speaker 2: time firms. Speaker 2: We're in the Ivy League. Speaker 0: Right. Speaker 0: Sure. Speaker 2: And I was electing to move boxes around to make, you know, what I Speaker 2: don't know what it was, forty dollars an Speaker 0: hour on my time. Speaker 0: Right? Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: So, yeah, I was about to I was excited, though.

35:37 Speaker 2: Like, I was just an excitable kid. Speaker 2: I don't know if it was the Midwesterner in me or, Speaker 2: or just this I've still have this, like it's like an irrational Speaker 2: confidence, Speaker 2: that I can do that I can do things that I can't always do. Speaker 2: Like, I'm humble enough to admit I can't do them, but I think that Speaker 2: I can. Speaker 2: I think it's gonna be easy. Speaker 2: I get excited about it. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: So I was in the early days of starting this company, and I'm a Speaker 2: I'm on the track team. Speaker 2: I'm a junior. Speaker 2: I'm about to go in the track, like, locker room, and I'm outside Speaker 2: the door and, like, I checked my phone or something happens. Speaker 2: I dropped something, and I reached out, and I hear some people talking. Speaker 2: And it's, like, the big wigs on the track team. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: And they're not just talking about it.

36:17 Speaker 2: They're, like, making fun of me to them to amongst each other. Speaker 2: Wow. Speaker 2: His like, we're out here going to get a job at JPMorgan, and Nick Speaker 2: is moving boxes around in a in a, you know, a derogatory Speaker 2: name for a van with no windows on the side of it. Speaker 2: Right? Speaker 2: So I just kinda step back. Speaker 2: I'm like, holy shit. Speaker 2: And it hurt, man. Speaker 2: It hurt. Speaker 2: I Speaker 0: can imagine. Speaker 2: So I didn't have a choice but to, like, act like I didn't hurt Speaker 2: and go about my business and keep keep doing what I was doing. Speaker 2: It was motivating in a way, though. Speaker 2: For sure. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: How so? Speaker 0: What what what was the takeaway for you? Speaker 2: Well, I felt bad, and I was like, damn. Speaker 2: They might be right.

36:58 Speaker 2: Like, what am I doing? Speaker 2: I could go get a job and try to build a career. Speaker 2: And am I am I making the wrong decision with this Ivy League degree Speaker 2: that I've been lucky enough to have? Speaker 2: And Speaker 2: it is a stupid idea, and it is a shitty van and whatever else. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: So those thoughts all were there for sure, but I just, Speaker 2: you know, I just said f u instead, and I'm gonna do this. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: It's interesting because, like, on some level, I wanna say you swallowed Speaker 0: your ego and were humble because you like, you said you didn't care about Speaker 0: the status, and it's not even no status. Speaker 0: It's, like, low status. Speaker 0: It's, like, less than no status. Speaker 0: It's almost I mean, just being honest, it looks like, you know, worse than Speaker 0: doing nothing.

37:39 Speaker 0: I mean, in a sense, it's like and so I'm not trying to put Speaker 0: you down. Speaker 0: It's just like I it's so you kinda swallowed your ego, but at the Speaker 0: same time, it's almost like part of your ego said, no. Speaker 0: F you. Speaker 0: I'm gonna do this. Speaker 0: But, so the I mean, you know, what's the takeaway for the listener there? Speaker 0: It's just don't ever listen to anybody who's telling you who has, Speaker 0: unsolicited advice, or or what should we do? Speaker 2: No. Speaker 2: I think Speaker 2: I've also saved myself a lot of headache by listening to people who Mhmm. Speaker 2: Had opinions that contradicted my opinions. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 2: So I don't think that's the takeaway. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: I think the takeaway is that what's high status and the way everybody's going Speaker 2: might not be the best way to go.

38:21 Speaker 2: It might not be. Speaker 2: Like, you look at the highest status jobs in our world, you know, it's Speaker 2: accountant, it's doctor, it's lawyer. Speaker 2: There's more there's and and I respect the hell out of all three of Speaker 2: those groups, and I think a lot of them do really well and do Speaker 2: live a high quality of life. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: But as a whole, Speaker 2: they're very difficult jobs. Speaker 2: There's almost no quality of life, and your odds of ending up fifty years Speaker 2: old, divorced, and out of shape, and unhappy but rich are very, very Speaker 2: high. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: So so, yeah, it's it's a it's a really tough Speaker 2: thing of, like, what opportunity do I pick in this world? Speaker 2: But a big a big passion of in my book, a story in my Speaker 2: book is, like, look down the hall.

39:03 Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Look down the hall at what it looks like to win the game you're Speaker 2: about to play. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: I love that. Speaker 2: Do you wanna go be a consultant Speaker 2: and then transition into private equity and then buy companies? Speaker 2: Like, that Mhmm. Speaker 2: If you if you get an offer at Bain or McKinsey Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: You'd be foolish not to take it because almost all of them end up Speaker 2: in different areas of the economy just kicking ass. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker 2: Before you go to med before you go to med school Speaker 2: or before you, you know, take sit for the bar exam or before you Speaker 2: go take the job at the company that you're about to take the job Speaker 2: at, like, look at what it likes to what it's like to win the Speaker 2: game before you become a teacher. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Talk to the teachers that are fifty. Speaker 0: Right.

39:43 Speaker 2: What's your life like? Speaker 2: What's your earning potential? Speaker 2: Do you have any freedom? Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker 2: Or are you literally in a group chat just having having parents berate you Speaker 2: all day? Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 0: Right. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: Which is what which what being a teacher today is, unfortunately. Speaker 0: That's good advice. Speaker 0: One more snippet from the book. Speaker 0: On page two thirteen and two fourteen, you you say nobody gave me permission Speaker 0: to get rich. Speaker 0: I didn't come from a real estate family. Speaker 0: I didn't have the right resume. Speaker 0: I didn't get a job offer to work at a real estate firm out Speaker 0: of college. Speaker 0: You know, but here I am. Speaker 0: You're probably not qualified either. Speaker 0: You didn't get the right degree. Speaker 0: You don't know everything you need to know. Speaker 0: No way you can do this. Speaker 0: You might have to you might have said to yourself, but you say that's Speaker 0: all bullshit.

40:25 Speaker 0: Don't wait for permission. Speaker 0: Give yourself permission and start now. Speaker 0: Talk about that. Speaker 2: I think the the anxiety and the insecurity and the feel Speaker 2: fear of failure and the feel and the fear of just not being qualified Speaker 2: is something that holds so many people back. Speaker 2: Some of the wealthiest people I know who earn the most amount of money, Speaker 2: there's almost no correlation to how smart they are and their intelligence level to Speaker 2: the people who play video games at thirty five in their parents' basements. Speaker 2: There's there's almost no difference Speaker 2: in IQ. Speaker 2: But those wealthy people earn an absurd amount of money simply because many of Speaker 2: them, simply because they're not insecure.

41:07 Speaker 2: That's really good. Speaker 2: So if Speaker 2: like, my story is and look. Speaker 2: There are many people who are way more successful than me. Speaker 2: I'm not just painting myself as, oh my god. Speaker 2: Look at Nick. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: You name anybody out there who's done incredible things. Speaker 2: Nobody is gonna give them per nobody gave them permission to do what they Speaker 2: did. Speaker 2: I didn't study real estate. Speaker 2: I didn't come from a country club on Long Island. Speaker 2: I'd I would've went and tried to get a job at a real estate Speaker 2: private equity firm in New York City or Atlanta or Speaker 2: Charlotte, and they would have said no, Nick. Speaker 2: Like, you studied you studied labor relations at Cornell. Speaker 2: You don't know anything about real estate. Speaker 2: Get out of here. Speaker 2: Mhmm.

41:48 Speaker 2: I would not have had permission, but I built a private equity real estate Speaker 2: private equity company and bought a bunch of storage. Speaker 2: Every single defining decision that I've made in my life, if I would have Speaker 2: looked for permission or if I would have looked for somebody else to tell Speaker 2: me that I was qualified already or that it was risk free, Like, every Speaker 2: decision I made had a lot of reasons why I should not have done Speaker 2: it. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: To to moving boxes with that fifteen hundred dollar cargo van instead of going Speaker 2: to get that job for Coca Cola for eighty grand a year out of Speaker 2: college to to borrowing Speaker 2: almost two million bucks and raising five hundred k to build that first self Speaker 2: storage facility from the ground up. Speaker 2: Literally, ninety five out of a hundred investors told me that I was that Speaker 2: it was not gonna work, and nine out of ten banks would not lend Speaker 2: me the money because I didn't think it was gonna work.

42:33 Speaker 2: Wow. Speaker 2: That's wild. Speaker 0: Man, this is this is there's I I need to have you back. Speaker 0: There's just a lot here. Speaker 0: Couple of quick questions because we do need to hop off here in a Speaker 0: minute. Speaker 0: Looking back, what's one of your biggest failures, and what did you learn from Speaker 0: it? Speaker 2: Oh, man. Speaker 2: I I mean, I fail every day. Speaker 2: I make poor decisions every day. Speaker 2: Luckily, I'm at a I'm at a point now where I have enough momentum, Speaker 2: and I'm hedging enough risk that there's not a single decision that has the Speaker 2: opportunity to sink me. Speaker 2: But, I mean, we've we've had seven thousand square foot warehouses full Speaker 2: of stuff flood back in the back in the storage days.

43:13 Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: You know, we've had our driver hit somebody on the side of the road Speaker 2: and injure them in our truck. Speaker 2: No. Speaker 2: I've had to you know, had my one of my best friends crying in Speaker 2: my arms, Speaker 2: like, two weeks after he stood up with me and my wedding because I Speaker 2: had to fire him from one of my companies. Speaker 2: Wow. Speaker 2: That's a tough one. Speaker 2: So, like, everybody wants to own the companies. Speaker 2: Everybody wants to have the stuff, I guess. Speaker 2: But, man, like, it's never stress free. Speaker 0: Right. Speaker 0: No. Speaker 0: Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. Speaker 0: That's for sure. Speaker 0: If you were given ten million dollars tomorrow, what would you do with it? Speaker 0: No strings attached. Speaker 2: Oh, man. Speaker 2: I think, first of all, I think a large sum of money given to Speaker 2: anybody is a is a recipe for total disaster.

43:57 Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: But I would pay taxes with four million. Speaker 2: And then the last six million, I would I'd become my own LP in Speaker 2: storage deals, Speaker 2: for with the rest of it for sure. Speaker 2: Gotcha. Speaker 0: Okay. Speaker 0: What's the challenge that you're facing in your business right now? Speaker 2: I Speaker 2: oh, man. Speaker 2: Every day, man. Speaker 2: Every day. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: It's hard. Speaker 2: I'm rebuilding the sales teams across a couple companies right now. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 2: It's it's fun, but a challenge. Speaker 0: Got it. Speaker 0: What is a book besides yours that you could recommend for our to our Speaker 0: listeners? Speaker 2: Seven, or the five types of wealth by Sahel Bloom. Speaker 2: Got it.

44:37 Speaker 2: I gotta take it. Speaker 2: I'll I'll be right back. Speaker 2: Hold on one second. Speaker 0: Alright, Nick. Speaker 0: A few more questions, then we'll wrap up. Speaker 0: Looking forward, what do you think are some of the emerging challenges in the Speaker 0: real estate, space that just maybe whether we're talking single family Speaker 0: or storage or whatever you wanna talk about, but just emerging challenges in Speaker 0: real estate investing. Speaker 2: I think the hard part about my business, self storage, Speaker 2: is that you can underwrite with today's technology, whether it be ZoomInfo, Speaker 2: Crexi, you know, all the tools out there to get data on real Speaker 2: estate Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: Radius, all this information on storage, like, it's really Speaker 2: hard to get a competitive advantage Speaker 2: from an underwriting from an underwriting standpoint in the storage business.

45:23 Speaker 2: I can somebody can send me a text message with three things, Speaker 2: square footage, Speaker 2: revenue per month, Speaker 2: and address. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: And I can tell you the value of that storage facility from here, from Speaker 2: where I'm sitting, anywhere in the country. Speaker 2: I can tell you the value of that storage facility in about ten minutes. Speaker 0: Wow. Speaker 0: That's incredible. Speaker 2: So that that makes it really hard because it's a now level playing Speaker 2: field, and people can buy storage anywhere in the world. Speaker 2: Now operating these things is not as easy. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: So that's where, like, you gotta really know what you're doing to operate these Speaker 2: things remotely. Speaker 2: I've learned that over the last five years of doing this. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: You gotta run a tight ship. Speaker 0: Well, and that's one of the key tenants, I think, for businesses is operations.

46:06 Speaker 0: Right? Speaker 0: I mean, that's where Speaker 2: we're Still, it's hard. Speaker 2: Like, when you're not there, when you're remotely operating a storage facility in, you Speaker 2: know Right. Speaker 2: Sixty three different, you know, properties Wow. Speaker 2: In different areas, it's it's it's hard. Speaker 2: So there's always advantages to be had. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: That's why I kinda I really like some of these other asset classes. Speaker 2: Industrial is really awesome because it's a local game, man. Speaker 2: You gotta understand a you gotta understand an individual city, town neighborhood Speaker 2: to even think about buying an industrial building. Speaker 2: So Mhmm. Speaker 2: But yeah. Speaker 2: So that's maybe maybe an issue with some other asset classes as well where Speaker 2: technology and maybe it's AI that kinda levels the playing field of underwriting. Speaker 2: But Mhmm.

46:46 Speaker 2: But it's always a relationship game, man. Speaker 2: Like, if you're good at sales, you can look people in the eye and Speaker 2: you can build a relationship, then you can do really well in the real Speaker 2: estate business, and I don't think that'll ever change. Speaker 0: Right. Speaker 0: And that's why you should not be playing video games in your parents' basement. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: It all ties it all ties back to, you know, human interaction Speaker 0: and and sales, like you said. Speaker 0: And, Speaker 0: yeah, these these are skills that seem to be going away, for a lot. Speaker 2: My seven my seven year old can walk up to an adult, look them Speaker 2: in the eye, and shake their hand and ask them a question about themselves. Speaker 0: They're already in the top. Speaker 2: There's thirteen there's thirteen year olds there's thirteen year olds who can't do that Speaker 2: and take their Nintendo Switch to dinner with them. Speaker 0: Right.

47:26 Speaker 0: That's Speaker 0: that's pretty sad. Speaker 0: How has financial abundance made your life better, Nick? Speaker 2: Man, I I don't think money is everything, but unless you wanna buy Speaker 2: something. Speaker 0: I like that. Speaker 0: That's cool. Speaker 2: It's so it is so important. Speaker 2: It's so important. Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not into fancy things. Speaker 2: I live in a house that I bought for less than three hundred grand. Speaker 2: Mhmm. Speaker 2: I don't drive I drive an f one fifty that's almost two years old Speaker 2: now. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: I don't have expensive taste. Speaker 0: Mhmm. Speaker 2: But, man, being able to solve problems and not have a stress on your Speaker 2: family and your marriage because you can pay the bills that come up in Speaker 2: everyday life is a massive, massive blessing.

48:08 Speaker 2: And then there's a level beyond that of, like, finding out your mom works Speaker 2: for twelve dollars an hour and is pretty stressed at work, and you're just Speaker 2: like, mom, hey. Speaker 2: Like, you're not doing that anymore. Speaker 2: Love that. Speaker 0: What's one question that you wish I'd asked that I haven't asked? Speaker 2: I I wanted you to touch on the power lifting. Speaker 2: What no. Speaker 2: Just kidding. Speaker 2: No. Speaker 2: I think you you did an amazing job, man. Speaker 2: This has been an awesome conversation. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 0: And for the the listener, you're Nick's referring to, power Speaker 0: lifting. Speaker 0: And you also said long distance running, I think, in two different parts of Speaker 0: the tweet are are, not good, basically. Speaker 2: I think people like, a lot of the guys I know who work out Speaker 2: are addict are are addicted to working out, unfortunately.

48:53 Speaker 2: Everything ticks everything ticks balance. Speaker 2: Like, there's no no reason why forty year old men should be running forty, Speaker 2: fifty miles a week and doing a twenty six mile run as fast as Speaker 2: possible. Speaker 2: Like that, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Speaker 2: But And you were a track guy. Speaker 2: Right? Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 2: I was a track guy. Speaker 2: And I also think, like, putting a bunch of putting a bunch of weight Speaker 2: on a on a steel bar and putting on your back and taking your Speaker 2: ass to your heels as a as a forty year old is is just Speaker 2: absolutely silly. Speaker 0: Well, you make me feel better because I don't do squats anymore. Speaker 0: So Speaker 2: Awesome. Speaker 2: All the guys I all the guys I know who still do have have Speaker 2: a chronic back pain. Speaker 0: Right. Speaker 0: Alright, Nick. Speaker 0: Where can our listeners find you online?

49:35 Speaker 2: I think go to go to sweaty start up dot com slash ideas. Speaker 2: You can download a list of bunch of business ideas and kinda get a Speaker 2: feel for my mantra. Speaker 2: You can also email me if you wanna discount it somewhere. Speaker 2: If you got feedback on the book, email me, Nick at sweaty startup dot Speaker 2: com. Speaker 0: Me and my team read every single one of them. Speaker 0: Awesome. Speaker 0: This has been really fun. Speaker 0: This has been way different than most of my other episodes all of my Speaker 0: other episodes. Speaker 0: So, Speaker 0: yeah, I would love to have you back for a third time. Speaker 0: You know, if we could schedule that, that'd be that'd be fantastic. Speaker 0: Any parting parting thoughts for, for the listener? Speaker 2: No, man. Speaker 2: I, I I think I think we covered a lot, and I look. Speaker 2: I just really appreciate you giving me the the platform, and and, yeah, Speaker 2: you did a great job.

50:15 Speaker 2: So thank you so much. Speaker 2: Thanks for Speaker 0: your time, Nick. Speaker 0: And to the listener, thank you for sharing your most valuable resource with us, Speaker 0: and that is your time. Speaker 0: Thanks, everyone. Speaker 0: Take care. Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on From Adversity to Abundance. Speaker 1: We hope today's episode has equipped you with valuable insights and practical advice Speaker 1: to elevate your real estate journey. Speaker 1: For more inspiring stories and resources, visit us at w w w Speaker 1: dot adversity to abundance dot com. Speaker 1: If this episode has inspired you, please share it with a friend who could Speaker 1: also benefit from our conversation. Speaker 1: Together, let's turn adversity into abundance.

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